Pacific Fishing August 2010

Terrorism suspects

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THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN ■ AUGUST 2010

NOAA’s mess Lavish spending Ruthless VMS enforcement

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• Hake fishery suspended • Pacific Seafood lawsuit • Coastal salmon trolling

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Editor's note

IN THIS ISSUE ®

Grace

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN INSIDE: Don McManman

NOAA’s mess: Page 5

Top TV in Gitmo: Page 10

Pacific Seafood suit: Page 13

Groundfish ratz debate: Page 18 On the cover: Jesse Welsh-Armer photographed this troller near Kruzof Island in Southeast during the summer of 2008.

VOLUME XXXI, NO. 8 • AUGUST 2010 Pacific Fishing (ISSN 0195-6515) is published 12 times a year (monthly) by Pacific Fishing Magazine. Editorial, Circulation, and Advertising offices at 1000 Andover Park East, Seattle, WA 98188, U.S.A. Telephone (206) 324-5644. ■ Subscriptions: One-year rate for U.S., $18.75, two-year $30.75, three-year $39.75; Canadian subscriptions paid in U.S. funds add $10 per year. Canadian subscriptions paid in Canadian funds add $10 per year. Other foreign surface is $36 per year; foreign airmail is $84 per year. ■ The publisher of Pacific Fishing makes no warranty, express or implied, nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the information contained in Pacific Fishing. ■ Periodicals postage paid at Seattle, Washington.

Postmaster: Send address changes to Pacific Fishing, 1000 Andover Park East, Seattle, WA 98188. Copyright © 2010 by Pacific Fishing Magazine. Contents may not be reproduced without permission. POST OFFICE: Please send address changes to Pacific Fishing, 1000 Andover Park East, Seattle, WA 98188

Several years ago, I had a medical condition that left me nearly crippled. So I did what I do best: felt sorry for myself.

At least until I spent a few minutes in the waiting room of a medical school’s Neurology Clinic. There, I saw true agony in my fellow patients. I also saw grace and courage.

I left — not cured — but understanding how lucky I was. Reality is a great palliative.

Earlier this year, I was talking with a fisherman out of Astoria. He recounted a litany of bad breaks, bad judgment, and thoroughly bad enforcement by NOAA. The guy seemed crushed. Any direction he looked, he saw a black wall. Despair.

I thought about the Astoriaa guy a few weeks ago when I was at the Grants Pass horsee track. I became re-acquainted d with Ralph Garcia, who’ss raced pretty much everywheree in the West.

As a kid, he fell in with thee wrong crowd. So his motherr shipped him out to a Califor-nia ranch. Ralph was on hiss own. He was 13.

Three years later, Ralph h got his first mount, at Golden n Gate Fields near San Francisco.

He began a dangerous, grueling life.

Jockeys don’t wear much h Ralph Garcia and daughters Sierra, left, and Shyann, right, also a jockey. Wife Jackie stands behind. Dan Guthrie photo more protection than a kid at a hamburger joint. Yet jockeys must guide 1,200 pounds of muscle at speeds reaching 40 mph. You’re surrounded by a half-dozen other horses, some literally breathing down your neck.

If you’re particularly unlucky, you could fall and the horses behind will trample you to death. Or your horse could fall and break your back. Or you could be slammed into a rail like a bug on a windshield.

Health insurance? None. You ride in the dust when it’s 100 degrees or in the mud when it’s 38. You move constantly, from track to track. But you don’t miss home because you don’t have one.

I asked Garcia how many bones he’s broken. He had to stop and think. “Five.

I’ve been lucky.” He meant it. Unlucky jockeys break five ribs in a single fall.

But 10 years ago, he got a job at a breeding operation in Southern Oregon, breaking green horses. Easy work for a jockey. Then came the economic recession. The breeder went out of business, and Garcia had no job.

There was only one option: “A buddy is telling me I’m nuts if I want to ride again, but I have a family to support.”

Simple as that.

He’s 52.

Fishermen and jockeys: Both lead harsh lives. Both do what must be done, with grace, regardless of despair. But Garcia has one advantage over fishermen: You can’t drown on a race course.

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AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 3

STATS PACK

Fish harvest jobs rebound from 2000 depression PREFERRED PUBLICATION OF:

CORDOVA DISTRICT FISHERMEN UNITED UNITED FISHERMEN OF ALASKA WASHINGTON DUNGENESS CRAB FISHERMEN’S ASSOC. WESTERN FISHBOAT OWNERS ASSOC.

To Subscribe: www.pacificfishing.com/ pf_subscribe.html Ph: (206) 324-5644 Fax: (206) 324-8939 Main Office

1000 ANDOVER PARK EAST SEATTLE, WA 98188 PH: (206) 324-5644 FAX: (206) 324-8939 Chairman/CEO

MIKE DAIGLE miked@nwpublishingcenter.com Publisher

PETER HURME peterh@nwpublishingcenter.com

EDITORIAL CONTENT: Associate Publisher & Editor

DON MCMANMAN donmcmanman@gmail.com

PH: (509) 772-2578 Anchorage Office

WESLEY LOY Field Editor

MICHEL DROUIN Copy Editor/Proofreader

BRIANNA MORGAN PRODUCTION OPERATIONS: Production Manager

DAVID SALDANA davids@nwpublishingcenter.com Graphic Design & Layout

ERIN DOWNWARD erind@nwpublishingcenter.com Project Manager

CHRISTIE DAIGLE Ph: (206) 324-5644 ext 222 marketing@nwpublishingcenter.com

SALES AND MARKETING: Advertising Sales Manager

DIANE SANDVIK Ph: (206) 962-9315 Fax: (206) 324-8939 dianes@pacificfishing.com

CIRCULATION & DISTRIBUTION: Circulation Manager

CHRISTIE DAIGLE christied@nwpublishingcenter.com

Fish harvesting jobs in Alaska have shown two distinct trends over the past nine years. From 2000 to 2002, employment numbers fell dramatically.

Then, fishing jobs stabilized and recovered a bit through 2008.

Over the entire period, harvesting employment lost 1,436 jobs, a 16.5 percent decrease. That’s just one of the fishing facts found in the state Labor Department’s monthly publication “Alaska Economic Trends,” which focuses on employment in Alaska’s seafood industry.

Other highlights: When harvesters are combined with processing workers, 52,000 people were directly employed in the seafood industry last year. A breakdown by age groups shows that 47 percent of Alaska deckhands were 29 years old or younger.

Permit holders were much older than their crew, with an average age of 46. Processing workers had an average age of 39. Forty-six percent of Alaska’s

crew members lived outside the state. Of the 54 percent who lived in Alaska, 82 percent lived in a coastal region and 18 percent lived in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Twenty-seven percent of Alaska permit holders were nonresidents, and 74 percent of seafood processing workers lived outside the state.

Salmon accounted for 51 percent of all harvesting jobs last year. Aside from fishing jobs, nearly 37 percent of permit holders held another job during the year.

Alaska has been the top fishing state since 1975.

More than 55 percent of total U.S. seafood landings comes from Alaska, and 39 percent of the total value.

That’s pretty impressive for a state whose population amounts to only two-tenths of one percent of the nation’s total.

Find the employment report at the Department of Labor website: www.labor.alaska.gov/trends/nov09.pdf. g /

Alaska salmon present a new ket (and pricier) face in market Alaska salmon has shown a big shift in the ways it goes out to market.

More wild salmon is being sold as pricier fresh/ frozen or fillets, instead of going into cans. The “Alaska Salmon Price Report” covers first wholesale volume and value, by species and area, for six key Alaska salmon products.

The price report covers canned salmon, fresh and frozen headed and gutted, fresh fillets, frozen fillets, and salmon roe.

Analyst Chris McDowell compiles salmon data for ASMI’s Seafood Market Information Service. He has combed through six years of salmon production data, and it reveals some notable trends.

Buyers appear to be over their fresh versus frozen bias. At wholesale, the value for frozen H&G salmon in the last sales quarter was $147 million, up from $128 million for the same time in 2008.

Both chum and sockeye showed big wholesale value boosts: chums up from $1.17 to $1.28 per pound, and frozen sockeye up from $2.52 to $2.74 per pound.

Ray Riutta, director of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, credits chefs and ASMI’s national “Cook It Frozen” campaign for building consumer confidence in frozen fish.

For the priciest product form — salmon fillets — Alaska sockeye shows the most stable growth. Frozen sockeye fillets increased from 4 million to 16 million pounds from 2004 to 2009.

Average wholesale price for frozen sockeye fillets increased to $5.23 per pound, marking the first time that product has reached the $5 benchmark.

Canned sockeye production has declined steadily for four years, from 32 percent to 26 percent last year.

4 PACIFICFISHING

AUGUST 2010

Deckhand Podge Elvestar rides a deckload in Prince William Sound in 2007. Michael Leese photo For pinks, about 55 percent is being canned, with the rest being frozen.

Business analyst McDowell said more acceptance of frozen seafood has big implications for Alaska. It equates to pennies or nickels per pound in transportation costs instead of dimes and quarters — or more — for fresh. It also reduces risk.

“Filleting salmon and sending it out fresh represents a tremendous risk in terms of shelf life. That’s a real important value component among big buyers,” McDowell said. – Laine Welch

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YOUR BUSINESS

Law and order

by Jennifer Hawks

NOAA collects a fortune from North Pacific fishermen.

And how does the agency spend the loot?

It’ll shock you.

See Page 7. arbitrary and in need of reform.”

Lubchenco responded to the report with a promise that NOAA would address those issues. She also acknowledged the need for stronger leadership at the agency and the need for annual reviews of their enforcement program.

During the IG’s investigation, it was revealed that the agency’s enforcement chief, Dale Jones, had shredded certain documents, though which documents and what they pertained to were not publicly disclosed. Jones was replaced by Alan Risenhoover in April, though the reasons were not announced. It’s also unclear if Jones was fired or will eventually return to his role as chief.

For many fishermen, it’s not just the severity of the fines. It’s that they don’t always know when they’ve continued on page 6

Drift over the line just once, and NOAA will haunt you Stunningly huge fines await those who innocently violate VMS areas Enforcement of NOAA’s Vessel Monitoring Systems has resulted in serious fines — and unknown futures — for some North Pacific fishermen who have violated fisheries regulations.

Tommy Morrison of the F/V Captain Ryan out of Warrenton, Ore., has at least eight outstanding fines in addition to four he’s already settled. The initial amount for those first four was $78,000, which was later settled for $25,000. Attorney’s fees cost him another $5,000.

As for fighting the remaining charges, “I’m not even going to bother getting a lawyer this time. I can’t afford it.”

In response to congressional pressure and complaints by commercial fishermen about enforcement policies and the perceived severity of fines, Jane Lubchenco, the new administrator of NOAA, requested the Department of Commerce to evaluate NOAA’s fisheries enforcement programs and operations.

The department’s Inspector General’s Office released its review on Jan. 21. Though primarily focused on Northeast fisheries, it detailed issues that included concerns about excessive fining of fishermen who have violated VMS regulations.

Arbitrary: In the report, Inspector General Todd Zinser wrote, “We find it difficult to argue with those who view the process as

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PACIFICFISHING 5

YOUR BUSINESS

Law and order continued from page 5

violated a rule.

Stories of mistakenly drifting over boundary lines are common. Sometimes it’s because the captain, admittedly, wasn’t paying attention. Other times it’s due to malfunctioning navigational equipment that falsely indicated they were in legal waters.

‘I could sell the boat and still get hit with fines five years later. I think about it 24 hours a day. It’s making me sick.’

Not intentional: “No one’s doing it intentionally,” said Morrison. “There’s no economic benefit. You can’t retain anything you catch illegally.”

But as Morrison of the Captain Ryan points out, it’s culpability, not intent.

“It’s a civil offense, not criminal, so jail is not an option.

Once you cross that [boundary] line, you’re guilty. There’s Gary Sjostrom’s F/V Homebrew: Two counts of fishing in conservation areas resulted in no warnings, no excuses. It’s black and white.” a $40,000 fine.

Gary Sjostrom, captain of the F/V Homebrew, also out of Warrenton, was charged with one count of fishing in the are,” Sjostrom said.

Trawl Rockfish Conservation Area and one count of fishing in a Hours in court: After Sjostrom spent eight hours in court, the conservation area. He was fined more than $40,000. judge had yet to make a decision on the case.

“My computer navigation line moved [about 600 feet]. As far “My lawyer’s fees were getting so expensive — $20,000 by then as I know, I was fishing on — so he said I should cut the [legal] side of the line,” a deal.”

Sjostrom said.

He settled with a $10,000 Sjostrom was given 30 fine and was restricted from If you’ve tangled with NOAA’s enforcement agents and days in which to pay his trawling in May of this attorneys over VMS issues, let us know. We’d like to tell fine. He said that during at year, which is traditionally least one of two phone conhis best month. As part of your story. versations with NOAA’s a probationary agreement, Send a brief summary of the case and what transpired attorney, he was told that if if it’s proven he’s violated to editor@pacificfishing.com. Also, please send a telephone he didn’t come up with the another federal or state number where you can be reached. money, they would seize his fishery law within the next We won’t use your name unless you house as an asset. year, it will earn him an Niel Moeller, NOAA’s later give us permission. automatic fine of $15,000, general counsel for enforceSjostrom said. ment and litigation attorRon Wright is the owner ney for the Northwest of Jensen CommunicaRegion, denies having made any such statement to Sjostrom, who tions in Warrenton, Ore. Because his company supplies much of subsequently hired an attorney to represent him. the West Coast fleet with their VMS gear, he’s heard lots of horror “You start dealing with them—people don’t know how bad they stories. Though he agrees with the VMS program in principle, in practice he doesn’t see it as a very wellimplemented system.

“Enforcement,” he said, “has been an (604)-885-3499 absolute shocker.”

Enforcement complaints seem mostly (866)885-3499 directed not at NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, the agents in charge of inves"DIRECT MARKETING 101" SUPPLYING THE REFRIGERATION tigating the violations. Rather, complaints seem targeted at NOAA’s Office of GenerTO MAKE IT ALL POSSIBLE! al Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation, Deck mounted fast freezers and RSW's for the attorneys who try the cases.

NOAA delays: Part of the problem processing at sea or air cooled truck chillers is the delay at NOAA while the agency for transporting live or fresh product to decides what to do about an alleged violation. Months or years can pass before a market! fisherman gets a letter demanding tens of

Are you a victim?

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6 PACIFICFISHING

AUGUST 2010

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YOUR BUSINESS

CORRUPTION INCOMPETENCE

or

thousands of dollars.

Vicki Nomura, special agent in charge of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement in the Northwest Division, said a potential violation is carefully reviewed and then forwarded to a supervisor if it appears to merit prosecution. An enforcement agent further investigates, sometimes closing cases that the agent determines aren’t priorities, such as those with minor technical violations or mitigating circumstances that clearly warrant closing without further action.

Because enforcement is short-staffed, it can take a long time to notify individuals of violations. A fine (or multiple fines for repeat infractions) can be levied up to five years after the incursion.

“It’s never our intent to stack violations against somebody,” explains Nomura. “Lots of times we don’t discover a problem until there are several violations.” And oftentimes additional violations occur while investigations are ongoing, she said.

The delay is costly for fishermen, both in dollars and for the stress it causes. In addition to fines Morrison has paid already, as well as those pending, he’s concerned about what might be lurking in his future.

Audit reveals shocking details about NOAA’s use of slush fund Tens of millions in fines levied against U.S. commercial fishermen held in an unrecorded account were used by the fisheries law enforcement division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fuel extravagant purchases and foreign travel, according to a forensic audit for a U.S. inspector general.

Among the discoveries by the accounting firm KPMG, brought in by the Department of Commerce IG’s office, was that NOAA police own more vehicles “by a substantial margin” than they have officers — 202 vehicles for 172 officers.

The audit also found multiple purchases on the same day from the same vendor, six-figure overseas convention spending, and the purchase of 22 vessels — including a $300,000 “undercover” vessel described by the manufacturer as “luxurious,” with a “beautifully appointed cabin.” All of those purchases bypassed internal review, the audit found.

‘Do whatever you have to do to ensure your safety and then come tell us about it. It’s much more different if someone calls us and says, “This is what happened to me.” I think we’re really good at that.’

continued on page 8

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“I could sell the boat and still get hit with fines five years later. I think about it 24 hours a day. It’s making me sick.”

Distrust: There’s distrust among some fishermen who are concerned that even if they inadvertently drift over a boundary line during an emergency, or are motoring at trawl speed due to hazardous conditions, that they’ll be prosecuted.

Joe Albert, VMS program manager for NOAA, said this isn’t true.

“Do whatever you have to do to ensure your safety and then come tell us about it. It’s much more different if someone calls us and says, ‘This is what happened to me.’ I think we’re really good at that. Just one phone call to our Declaration number [at 1-888-585-5518] is all it takes.”

Ensuring your VMS and navigational equipment is properly functioning is another way to eliminate potential violations, he said.

The IG’s report acknowledges dozens of complaints from fishermen that detail charges of abuse of authority by NOAA enforcement officers and excessive fines. The IG is reviewing those complaints and the corresponding case files to possibly recommend further action.

But if you’ve already settled with NOAA, the agency’s review won’t do you any good.

NOAA said the agency won’t be reviewing any settled VMS cases outside of its established civil administrative process. That process allows for a person who has been assessed a civil penalty to challenge that assessment by requesting a hearing before an administrative law judge, as well as the right to appeal that decision, first to the administrator of NOAA and then to federal District Court.

In the meantime, some fishermen like Sjostrom are considering refitting for tuna. “In three years, I’ve made only 10 trips bottom fishing. There’s getting to be so many regulations, it’s not even worth going anymore. And there’s no VMS for the tuna fishery.”

Yet.

Corruption

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AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 7

YOUR BUSINESS

Corruption continued from page 7

NOAA fisheries law enforcement may have brought in as much as $96 million over 4-1/2 years through June 2009 and spent $49 million via more than 82,000 transactions.

Although the investigation of the fund covers only as far back as January 2005, the police chief, Dale Jones, was appointed in 1999 late in the administration of President Bill Clinton.

Jones apparently was re-moved from his office — if not the payroll — in March after Zinser announced his findings at a congressional oversight hearing.

The next day, at a different oversight hearing into NOAA law enforcement abuses, Zinser made another major accusation — that Jones had ordered the shredding of documents while the IG’s investigation was nearing its conclusion.

The only subsequent notice of the law enforcement scandal that followed, however, was a cryptic announcement from NOAA that a career fisheries manager had been named acting head of law enforcement. The Vice President Joe Biden officiates at the swearing in of Jan Lubchenco as administrator of NOAA on announcement of the departmental change April 9, 2009. Lubchenco, a former scientist at Oregon State University, is responsible for the actions did not even mention Jones’ name. of NOAA’s enforcement branch.

NOAA Chief Counsel Lois Schiffer In all, the mass of an asset forfeiture fund — used by the police and Eric Schwaab, who heads NOAA Fisheries for Adminand legal divisions — was of a magnitude greater than estimated istrator Jane Lubchenco, announced his report after the IG’s preliminary report of police abuses that there would by the initial investigators of IG Todd Zinser.

While the Asset Forfeiture Fund was loosely estimated last be no looking back or effort to rectify past miscarriages spring to involve $8.5 million, the forensic audit concluded that of justice.

NOAA has also fought against Freedom of Information Act requests by the Gloucester (Mass.) seeking official clarification of whether Jones remains on the federal payroll.

Lubchenco did not respond to an invitation to comment after the latest revelation, but NOAA released a statement saying the agency The world’s leading manufacturer “expected this review, appreciates the level of detail it provides, and is evaluating the data and results carefully.” and supplier of Automated Longline “Based upon the earlier IG input and public feedback, NOAA Equipment in 1977 brought to has already taken action to improve policies, management life a new way of fishing in the processes, and internal controls of the fund,” NOAA said.

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Mustad Longline leads the industry In his report, Zinser said the money collected in fines and penalOUR REPUTATION IS with innovative research and growth ties appears to be restricted by law to “expenses directly related to investigations and civil or criminal enforcement proceedings.”

BUILT IN YOUR PRIDE based on the need of the fleet But the IG cited several expenses it said didn’t appear to meet OF OWNERSHIP themselves. that standard, including vehicles for managers who used the cars mainly for their daily commute. *Superbaiter *Mark III The audit also said the law enforcement office spent $2.7 *Coastal million on 22 boats. In addition, the audit said the fund was charged $580,000 for international travel between January 2005 and June Call for a personalized 2009, but only 17 percent of the cost was for travel directly related consultation for your fishing vessel to investigations or enforcement proceedings.

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AUGUST 2010

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– From Richard Gaines of the Gloucester Times and from other news outlets.

YOUR BUSINESS

Law and Order

Ask a simple question and … don’t get an answer After the latest damning investigation concerning ncerning rning “Maybe 18 or 22.” ageenNOAA and its spending habits, you’d figure the agenShe suggested we contact her deputy special cy would be ready for a few questions. agent in charge, Brad Vinish. He returned our call You’d be wrong. and left a message saying, essentially, he had Seems the agency’s regional directors won’t n’t been ordered not to say a word about the entire say how many cars, boats, or even employees es inspector general’s report. they supervise.

But we wanted to know only how many cars The NOAA inspector general investiga-and boats NOAA had in the Northwest. tion concerned a slush fund fueled by fisher-But Vinish implied we wouldn’t get that o men fines, such as those levied for drifting into information from him. no-fishing zones as recorded by vessell So we called Deputy Special Agent in Charge monitoring systems.

Matthew Brown in Juneau. n Here’s what the inspector general found, in “The instruction I have is to send all media a nutshell: contacts to headquarters,” Brown said. k In the four years up to June 2009, NOAA took We called Don Masters, the special agent in m in about $96 million in fines and forfeitures from charge in Long Beach, Calif. fishermen. The agency spent $49 million in moree Same answer: Call headquarters. than 82,000 transactions.

And back in HQ, the young woman assigned As for the $47 million left over — well, it’s nott to answer all such questions — Lesli Balesn there. NOAA reportedly had only $8.8 million in Sherrod — couldn’t be reached. Granted, it was the the account on June 14.

How many NOAA officers wear beginning of a long weekend for federal employOAA this patch on the West Coast?

Some of the outrage focused on NOAA ees, but it was still within business hours for public was sparked by the revelations that it bought NOAA’s not telling. servants on the Potomac. automobiles and boats, in one case a “luxurious” Crime and Punishment: As we were rummagyacht with a “beautifully appointed cabin.” ing around the NOAA Enforcement web pages for someone who So, we thought we’d ask NOAA West Coast and Alaska might be willing to talk to us, we came across an announcement enforcement outposts, not about the report, but simply how many of a special display this summer: Ironically, the new exhibit by the boats and cars they had. This required simple counting.

National Museum of Crime and Punishment, in cooperation with First up, Vicki Nomura, special agent in charge of the Northwest NOAA, “exposes crime on the high seas.” headquarters in Seattle.

She was out of the office but on her cell phone. Off the top of her head, she didn’t know how many boats and cars her division had.

She also didn’t know how many employees were in her division:

In its own words HERE IS HOW NOAA ENFORCEMENT DESCRIBES ITSELF NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is dedicated to enforcing laws that conserve and protect our nation’s living marine resources and their natural habitat. Our goal is to assure that the many people who enjoy these resources for recreation or rely on them for business follow the rules that will maintain the species for future generations.

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement protects fish stocks from depletion and marine mammals from extinction. We also protect the livelihoods of commercial fishers, the hobbies of recreational fishers, and the health of seafood consumers.

While scientists provide the research and councils provide the regulatory framework to manage our nation’s fisheries, NOAA’s mandate to end overfishing would be impossible without its Office of Law Enforcement to follow through on the rest of NOAA’s hard work.

Formed in 1970, NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement now has 146 special agents and 17 enforcement officers working out of six divisional offices and 52 field offices throughout the United States and U.S. territories. Headquarters are in Silver Spring, Md. The primary geographic jurisdiction of NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is the waters within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, which covers ocean waters between 3 and 200 miles off shore and adjacent to all U.S. states and territories. Jurisdiction extends to protected marine species, however, regardless of their location within the United States.

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is one of only two federal agencies accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

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AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 9

YOUR BUSINESS

Show biz

by Alexandra M. Gutierrez

In Gitmo, prisoners can’t

miss the latest episode of

Deadliest Catch The Alaskan fishing melodrama is pure escapism — and pardon the pun

Some of Deadliest Catch Catch’s ’s most loyal fans call this place home.

On the second season of Deadliest Catch, Andy Hillstrand, captain of the Time Bandit, described the experience of being on a crab boat as follows: “Like prison, with the chance of drowning.”

He borrowed the line from the essayist Samuel Johnson, who made the comparison more than two centuries ago. After all, the quarters of a fishing vessel are cramped. The conditions can be brutal. The women are scarce to absent. And the weather gear is often orange.

Maybe that’s why the detainees at Guantanamo Bay love Deadliest Catch more than any other show. The Discovery Channel series is the most requested program out of the detention camp’s 1,400-DVD library.

“My understanding is it’s the most popular television show on DVD. I don’t know how many other shows they have, but it’s the most popular television show they ask for,” says Lt. Col. Andrew McManus, the deputy commander of Guantanamo’s joint detention group. “Now understood, there are some things they would never watch ….”

Like say, political thrillers or Cinemax programming, which are off limits.

But among the other things they would watch are soccer, action movies (“like Jackie Chan action movies”), the Harry Potter series, and cartoons.

For more than a year now, Guantanamo’s joint detention group has allowed detainees with demonstrated good behavior access to television 20 hours a day. It’s improved their relationships with the guards and helps kill time as they wait for trial or transfer to their home countries, according to officials.

If you ignore the leg irons on the floor and the presence of guards, Camp 6 — where most of the “compliant” detainees are housed — has an A/V set-up that could rival any sports bar. There are 50-inch flatscreen TVs mounted in every block, and detainees can watch their favorite shows right from their cells. Here, Deadliest Catch is tops.

“You know, I’ve heard that before,” says Keith Colburn, captain of the Wizard and four-season veteran of the show. “Someone told me that the inmates at Guantanamo Bay are hooked on Deadliest Catch.”

No one’s really sure why that is exactly. The Samuel Johnson joke aside, the experience of a crab fisherman is so dramatically removed from the lives of the detainees — 5,000 miles removed, roughly. The culture, the climate, the economy up in Alaska are foreign to someone from Yemen or Afghanistan. It’s highly doubtful that any of the detainees have ever eaten king crab, and even unlikelier that they’ve been on a crab fishing boat. And as for the islands that serve as the two groups’ homes away from home, about the only thing that Dutch Harbor and Guantanamo have in common is that they’re both surrounded by water.

Colburn suggests that might be exactly why the detainees like it so much. “It’s escapism,” he says.

That may be true. Nature shows are generally popular, and the continued on page 12

10 PACIFICFISHING

AUGUST 2010

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YOUR BUSINESS

The resource

YOUR BUSINESS

Show biz cont. from page 10

STUDY: Fishermen fish for top profits People who fish for a living pursue top profits, not necessarily top predators, according to the first-ever analysis of worldwide catch and economic data for the past 55 years.

This differs from the observation raised 10 years ago that humans were “fishing down� the food web. It was assumed that catches of the predators at the top of the food chain — such as halibut and tuna — were declining after fishermen started landing more fish from lower on the food chain, such as herring and anchovies.

Fishing down the food web has been debated by biologists and fisheries managers since the idea emerged. Some in the news media, however, as well as a number of conservation groups and individuals, accepted the hypothesis without question, according to Suresh Sethi, a University of Washington doctoral student in aquatic and fishery sciences. “We wanted to examine why fishermen might be motivated to preferentially harvest different trophic levels, and our data showed that fishing down the food web — by moving from higher- to lowervalue species — is an incomplete story of the evolution of global fishery development,� says Sethi, lead author of a paper on the subject published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “We found no evidence that humans first developed commercial fisheries on top predators then sequentially moved to species lower in the food web since the 1950s. Instead, those who fish for a living have pursued high revenue fisheries, no matter what the trophic level of the species.�

It’s important to know what motivates those who fish for a living as nations move toward ecosystem-based management, Sethi says. “Attributes related to economic opportunity will be important for understanding which species are susceptible to new fishery development or expansion of existing harvest when costs and benefits are altered, for example, through government subsidies,� the paper says.

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Federal prisoners — mostly from the arid Middle East — now residing on an arid sliver of Cuba prefer a soggy melodrama set in Dutch Harbor. magazine National Geographic gets more love than a fresh Us Weekly might in a Hollywood gym. The show might also provide a type of emotional escapism. “They can get totally immersed in what’s happening,� Colburn adds. “It’s like a soap opera, where every show ends with an event that keeps you hanging.�

John McMurria, a professor of communications at the University of California San Diego, agrees that could be part of it. “Soap operas in particular are popular in times of crisis,� he says. “There might be something to Deadliest Catch’s melodramatic structure. It’s life or death.�

Colburn and McMurria also think there might be something to the show’s focus on male camaraderie and the treatment it gives masculinity. “We’re bullet-proof to the umpteenth degree, but at the end of the day, we all have a soft side,� says Colburn. “As a captain, there are times when you can sit there and be emotional in more ways than being this screaming, maniacal lunatic. You can be yourself.� “You wouldn’t expect these tough men that are fighting the elements to have these moments of revelation about their emotional experiences,� echoes McMurria. “Perhaps that’s what we’re all looking for — the detainees too.�

Deadliest Catch is also easy to follow and not too heavy on the dialogue. You can watch it sequentially, but you don’t necessarily need to. “Most of the detainees speak English, but even if you didn’t, you would still be able to watch it,� says McManus. “You would still be able to understand what’s going on.�

There’s also little on Deadliest Catch that could offend someone who might be religiously or culturally conservative.

Andrea Prasow, a senior counterterrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch, points out that there are mostly men on the show, which might make some detainees more comfortable.

The show might also just be popular by default. “The general category of restrictions makes nature shows accessible,� says Prasow. “Anything that would deal with politics is restricted. It might be out of a limited category of shows, that’s the most popular one.� She trails off. “Maybe it’s the epic struggle.�

At any rate, for Colburn, bemused curiosity is the only feeling provoked by Deadliest Catch’s popularity at Guantanamo. “I really didn’t have a reaction one way or another,� says Colburn. “I mean, I can’t say that I’m upset that these guys watch the show or that a bunch of terrorists enjoy watching what I do for a living.�

YOUR BUSINESS

Legal

Lawsuit claims Pacific Seafood holds too much market power With its network of 54 companies and its dominance in West Coast seafood markets, has fish processing giant Pacific Seafood Group crossed the line from sweeping success story to illegal price-fixing monopoly?

Everybody’s thought about it.

Now two Oregon fishermen are taking the question to court on behalf of more than 3,000 fishermen who may share a common complaint as Pacific has grabbed larger and larger market shares of the four most valuable fisheries on the West Coast: Pacific whiting, Dungeness crab, groundfish, and pink shrimp.

The corporation has grown predatory and exclusionary, the fishermen say, and it’s using its heft — as well as numerous “dirty tricks” and anti-competitive tactics — to bully and cheat fishermen out of their

by Cassandra Marie Profita rightful pay and to box competitors out of the market.

In their anti-trust lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Oregon, the fishermen filed more than 50 separate allegations against Pacific Seafood Group of Portland and its owner, Frank Dulcich.

The fishermen assert: • The Pacific Seafood companies stole money from the fishing fleet by illegally suppressing groundfish, shrimp, and crab prices by 15 to 20 percent and whiting prices by up to 50 percent.

• The companies deliberately miscalculated landed fish weights and “weighbacks” of unusable product.

• The companies have left fishermen with nowhere to turn in a “competitively crippled” regional seafood industry.

“If unchecked, the company will force competitors out of business and prices will be further suppressed,” the filing said.

The suit asks that the company be forced to give up 30 percent of its processing market share (which the fishermen claim has grown to 50 percent in the onshore whiting fishery, 60 percent in shrimp, 65 percent in crab, and 70 percent in groundfish) and pay between $394 million and $520 million

in damages.

In addition, the plaintiffs asked that the company be: • Divested of all permits, fishing vessels, and unused waterfront properties.

• Barred from accepting any processor shares in the groundfish individual fishing quota program.

• Required to sign an agreement — possibly with the Fishermen’s Marketing Association — for monitoring of its seafood offloading and weighing operations.

The company, through its general counsel Craig Urness, said the claims are “without merit” and include “gross misrepresentations.” Urness vowed that Pacific Seafood would “aggressively defend against the allegations.”

The claims go back four years, in keeping with allowances under the Sherman Antitrust Act. But the filing includes a history of Pacific’s rise to power over the past 27 years.

In 1980, there were 50 seafood processors on the West Coast. Since Pacific bought its first plant in Warrenton in 1983, its collection has grown to 18 plants, including the only plants in seven coastal cities. continued on page 14

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PACIFICFISHING 13

YOUR BUSINESS

Legal continued from page 13

Some of the plants were acquired below market price, the filing said, through a tactic wherein Pacific loaned money to a processor with strings attached and later leveraged its power as a lender to buy at a discount.

Largest buyer: Pacific has been the largest fish buyer on the West Coast for the past 10 years, with 14 U.S. fishing vessels and an unknown number plying Russian waters.

Competitors who crossed Pacific in pricing would receive “expletive-filled messages” from Frank Dulcich vowing retaliation, the lawsuit says.

The company also retaliated against fishermen who delivered product to competing processors by putting them on the “B list” and denying them the privileges of its “A list” boats, according to the anti-trust complaint. If a fisherman wanted to sell one product to Pacific, documents say, the purchase would be tied into an agreement requiring him to deliver all the rest of his product to Pacific plants as well.

The company also extended loans to fishermen with the condition that all their deliveries would come to Pacific processors.

Fishermen Lloyd and Todd Whaley of Brookings, Ore., father and son, own four fishing vessels: Miss Sarah, B.J. Thomas, Cape

Sebastian, and Dynamic. They claim they were forced out of the shrimp fishery by Pacific’s “B list” tactics in Brookings, where the company had purchased a Eureka Fish Co. plant in 2003 and shut it down, leaving the town without a processing facility.

Pacific proceeded to buy shrimp from “A list” boats and truck them to plants in Eureka, Calif., or Charleston, Ore., the lawsuit says, while “B list” boats had to pay to truck the product themselves.

Plants shut down: Three other processing plants acquired by the company through the Eureka Fish Co. purchase were shut down in Eureka and Crescent City, Calif., and Coos Bay, Ore. Other complaints focus on Pacific’s attempts to stop the Pacific groundfish rationalization, which is due to start in January 2011 and might undermine the company’s market control, and on conspiracies in price negotiations, one of which the plaintiffs argue led to the delayed start of the 2005-06 Dungeness crab season. Pacific claimed the dungies weren’t ready for harvest, critics claim, only because the company wanted to wait until its brown crab harvest in Russian waters was over.

Pete Leipzig, director of the West Coast trawlers’ group Fishermen’s Marketing Association, said he’s surprised a suit like

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this wasn’t filed sooner. In 2006-07, Pacific Seafood essentially “broke” the FMA by terminating its marketing contracts during a trawl fleet strike. The fleet was trying to assert more control over falling groundfish prices, but it didn’t work.

Warrenton trawler Kevin Dunn, who delivers to the Astoria and Bellingham fish processor Bornstein Seafoods, said some fishermen wouldn’t have anywhere to go if Pacific Seafoods decided not to buy their fish. Meanwhile, with Pacific being such a big buyer coastwide, it’s hard for other, higher-paying fish companies to meet Pacific’s prices on the wholesale market.

Success against Weyerhaeuser: The Whaley’s attorney, Michael Haglund of Haglund Kelley Horngren Jones & Wilder, is known for his success in filing a similar antitrust suit against Weyerhaeuser in 2001 on behalf of 12 alder sawmills.

He said the case does have parallels to this suit, and that Weyerhaeuser ultimately paid out $82 million in damages and took voluntary action to reduce its market share.

“It was a big battle, but the Sherman Antitrust Act is extremely powerful and has the ability to reform an industry that has become too concentrated,” he said.

One of his first actions will be to ask the court for injunctive relief to protect fishermen who are going to be asked to testify to Pacific’s illegal moves.

“The company has multiple ways to cheat or steal from fishermen,” he said. “There’s a tremendous amount of fear of Pacific Seafood Group. These two fishermen, father and son, are showing tremendous courage in taking on this fight. They’re doing it on behalf of all West Coast fishermen and fish boat owners.”

Haglund said after a six-month investigation he found Pacific’s business dealings have hurt fishermen and coastal communities more than any other market force over the past four years.

Damages: “The whole goal of this case is to stop the battery of illegal, anticompetitive tactics that Pacific Seafood has used, and continues to use,” Haglund said. “We want to recover the damages that they’ve inflicted on fishermen in the last four years, break up this network of companies into smaller units, and restore open competition to the seafood industry on the West Coast.”

In 2002, the company-owned Pacific Surimi pleaded no contest to first-degree theft charges. The case concluded the company had short-changed fishermen for Pacific whiting by fraudulently increasing the percentage of their catch that was unsellable. The company agreed to pay $800,000 in restitution.

YOUR BUSINESS

Too much of a good thing

by Cassandra Marie Profita

Lots of fish, falling prices for mid-coast salmon trollers Oregon and Washington salmon trollers found plenty of fish in the May and June openers. Maybe even a few too many.

As the season progressed and salmon from Alaska and Canada came into the market, prices dropped from $6.75 a pound to $4 to $4.50 a pound.

“We’re getting more fish than we expected,” said Darus Peake, chairman of the Oregon Trawl Commission and owner of the Tillamook Bay Boathouse fish market in Garibaldi.

Glut: “It glutted the market, and that hurt everybody. The price had to fall. We stopped buying. Larger plants are buying them and putting them in the freezer.”

Peake said every year, in late June when Alaskan salmon fisheries kick into gear, and Canadian and tribal fisheries are in force, the price for West Coast ocean troll salmon falls. He was happy to be selling whole Chinook for $6.95 a pound at the end of June.

“The last few weeks of June are historically plugged,” he said. “Wildlife managers and marketing don’t get together. We get a lot of fish in from everywhere.”

‘If you got $4 for your fish four years ago, you were doing jumping jacks.’

The boats in the fishery north of Cape Falcon were consistently catching their cap, and toward the end of June had to reduce the cap per weekly opener from 150 to 40 fish for the rest of the summer.

Jim Olson of the Washington Trollers Association said 130 Washington boats were fishing and catching their quota too quickly.

To extend the season, managers reduced the limit of Chinook and coho each boat could catch per week.

So many fish so fast: “There were so many boats out there, we went through so many fish so fast,” Olson said. “We’re

trying to protect that summer fishery and keep that fish in front of customers.”

Prices did fall dramatically, Olson said, but $4 a pound is still a good price compared with years past.

“If you got $4 for your fish four years ago, you were doing jumping jacks,” he said.

Eric Schindler of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said, “A late burst of catch” in the Columbia River area drew lots of boats up north and resulted in a spike of thousands of fish caught in a matter of days in mid-June.

With a week left in the May-June season, the weekly cap for trollers north of Cape Falcon was reduced to 25 Chinook per boat. With high-quality fish averaging around 13 pounds, though, Olson said it was still worth the effort.

“It’s not very many, but it’ll put $1,000 to $1,500 in guys’ pockets,” Olson said. “I don’t know about you, but I could use an extra $1,500.”

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PACIFICFISHING 15

YOUR BUSINESS

Hake

by Cassandra Marie Profita

Good price, but small fish and bycatch stymie hake fleet The shoreside hake season got off to a rocky start in June and ended — at least temporarily — on July 5.

There were plenty of fish off the West Coast, but most of them were too small for processors to sell into the food market.

Plants were paying a respectable 10 cents a pound for fish 14 inches and up, but with 40 to 50 percent of many hauls coming up undersized, the price per pound to fishermen was effectively sliced in half. Boats found a few pockets of larger hake, but they were a long trek from processing plants in Oregon and southwest Washington, and also chockfull of protected canary rockfish.

“We’re having a lot of difficulties,” said Warrenton trawler Gary Wintersteen, who was traveling 12 to 14 hours each way to get the bigger fish near the Juan de Fuca Canyon.

Fouled-up year: “I’ve been doing this for 20 years now, and this is the most fouled-up year I can remember. … If you can get a load of fish they can buy, you’re still on the plus side but one little misstep with the smaller fish and you’re basically breaking even.”

Andrew Bornstein, manager at Bornstein Seafoods in Astoria, said the bigger fish were starting to come in at the end of June,

but boats had to travel up to Neah Bay to get them. Bigger fish can go into bait and canning markets in Korea and Japan, he said, but smaller fish don’t have buyers.

Small fish might not play well in the markets, but they’re probably indicative of a positive trend for hake stocks, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist Bob Emmett.

Warmer currents: Emmett said his studies show that since 2005 Pacific hake have started spawning off the coast of Oregon as far north as the Columbia River — likely as a result of warmer ocean currents. The same is true of sardines, he said. As a result, the adults don’t separate themselves from the juveniles as they migrate up the coast to feed.

“Hake would migrate to Southern California to spawn and then adults would come back to Oregon and all the way up [to British Columbia] to feed,” Emmett said.

“That would separate the juveniles from the adults.”

Other factors that could be yielding smaller hake are also tied to warmer ocean patterns, he said, including a lack of food and an abundance of Humboldt squid.

To find schools of bigger hake, some Newport boats were traveling all the way to

the U.S./Canada border and as far south as Trinidad, Calif., in June. The fleet considered shutting down for a while to wait for bigger fish to show up, but initially decided against it in June.

Rockfish bycatch: Meanwhile, boats that did find bigger hake also found far too many canary rockfish in their nets. The fleet has around 132 million pounds of hake to catch this year but a tiny allowance of canary rockfish bycatch. Reports surfaced in late June that 40 percent of the canary quota had been landed in one day.

“That’s a horrible situation for us,” Wintersteen said. “We’re policing ourselves in the areas with the known canary bycatch.

It’s very unfortunate because the hake in that area are nice, big hake.”

In one day, Wintersteen delivered 293 pounds of canaries — “more than I delivered last year the whole year. … We consider ourselves professionals, and we do a good job, but when you’re trying to avoid a fish that’s becoming more and more plentiful, we’re struggling in a fishery that shouldn’t have these kinds of problems up to our ears.”

The rockfish catch, coupled with smaller hake, finally caused fishermen to voluntarily stop fishing until July 20.

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YOUR BUSINESS The resource Alaska scientists send out underwater drone to follow fish Tr a c k i n g f i s h a c ro s s A l a s k a ’ s v a s t continental shelves can present a challenge to any scientist studying Alaska’s seas.

So, researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have successfully tested a possible solution in the form of underwater gliders.

Recently, Peter Winsor, associate professor of physical oceanography, and Andrew Seitz, assistant professor of fisheries, tested the use of autonomous underwater vehicles, called gliders, for tracking tagged fish.

Winsor and Seitz suspended acoustic tags, usually implanted in fish, at different depths along a buoy line near Juneau. They then deployed two gliders fitted with an acoustic listening device to “hear” the signals from the tags.

Winsor and Seitz say these are the first gliders to be deployed in Alaska with an acoustic monitoring device to track tagged fish.

Each glider is about five feet long and flies like an airplane through the water in an up-and-down motion. They are propelled using an internal bladder that works much like a fish’s swim bladder. When the bladder expands, the glider moves toward the surface. When it contracts, it moves toward the seafloor.

“They convert changes in water depth into forward movement,” said Seitz.

Operates for months: The gliders move at a speed of nearly 1 mph and can operate for up to three months. According to Winsor, the gliders can cover thousands of miles of ocean. At the surface, the glider transmits data, including its location and oceanographic readings, directly to scientists.

“With the gliders, we not only learn about where the fish go, but we can also measure the physical, chemical, and biological environment of the ocean at the same time,” said Winsor.

Traditional methods of tracking tagged fish include using a ship equipped with an acoustic listening device, or by using what scientists call a “listening line,” which is a series of hydrophones attached to the seafloor.

“The problem with using hydrophones is that they stay in one place and the tagged fish have to move near enough to the hydrophones to be detected,” said Seitz.

“This can create big geographic gaps in your data, especially in the vast oceans surrounding Alaska.”

Seitz and Winsor say that the gliders can be programmed to follow tagged fish. The

An underwater “glider” can track tagged fish closely for months. technology is ideal for Alaska waters because the gliders can cover large distances and are much less expensive than using a ship or sets of hydrophones.

Scientists are planning to use the gliders to gather oceanographic information in the Chukchi Sea. – UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 17

YOUR BUSINESS

Groundfish rationalization

YES A

s a participant in the West Coast trawl fishery for the last 20 years, I’m looking forward to the implementation of the “catch shares” program for the groundfish trawl fishery that’s been developed over the last seven years.

Everyone has aspects of the program they would like to change, which is probably a good sign that it doesn’t favor any single group. Nobody I’ve spoken with believes it’s a perfect system. I do believe, however, that it’s far better than our current system of management, which forces fishermen to discard perfectly good fish and has led to the deterioration of fishing infrastructure up and down the coast.

Progress rather than perfection should be our aim. If we try to keep tweaking the program until it’s perfect, we run the risk of continuing to fish under a failed system.

Under the new plan as it now stands, bycatch — fish that are unintentionally caught — will be greatly reduced by holding individual fishermen responsible.

Dirty fishing practices will be punished and clean fishing rewarded.

by Rob Seitz

Rationalize first

and solve the problems later

This will be achieved through 100 percent observer coverage, meaning an observer will record every bit of each trawler’s catch.

Once a trawler has reached his quota on one species, he’s done fishing unless he either buys or leases more quota.

Under the current system, there’s a financial incentive to discard fish and no incentive to fish sustainably.

Another benefit of the observer coverage will be better science. As it now stands we rely on flawed computer models to determine our stock assessments. With total observer coverage, we’ll know exactly what’s being caught.

When a species starts to show signs of depletion, we’ll know much sooner and be able to adjust our take. By the same token, when a stock is stronger than what was thought, we’ll be able to catch more. This will make our fishery sustainable for both the fish and the fisherman.

The gear-switching provision of the catch shares program is another aspect that will

benefit fish and fishermen alike. Not all species of fish that I catch need to be caught with a trawl net. Sablefish, for example, can be caught either by longline or in pots. The price for long-line and pot-caught sablefish is much higher than for trawl catch.

‘With the catch shares program, I’ll be able to buy a small amount of quota, fish it on the boat I’m currently running, and use the money to buy more until I’ve worked my way up to where it’s feasible to have my own operation.’

And sablefish are fast swimmers, so a large net is needed to catch them. Towing a big net requires more fuel, so being able to switch gear types will both save fuel and increase our price, significantly helping our bottom line.

I’ve been a hired captain for the last 12 years and a deck hand for seven years before that. It’s always been my goal to purchase my own boat and permit. Under the current system, that’s next to impossible unless you can find a seller willing to carry the contract.

A skipper wishing to buy in faces the cost of the whole package at once, and that’s out of reach for all but a few of us. With the catch shares program, I’ll be able to buy a small amount of quota, fish it on the boat I’m currently running, and use the money to buy more until I’ve worked my way up to where it’s feasible to have my own operation.

Although I will not receive any initial allocation of quota, there will be more opportunity for advancement than under the current system.

There are sure to be some features of the catch shares program that are flawed, but the pros far outweigh the cons. And in order to do more fine-tuning, we need to implement the program to find out what the problems are. Until then, the criticisms are all just speculation.

Rob Seitz is a trawl fisherman based in Warrenton. This essay first appeared in The Oregonian.

18 PACIFICFISHING

AUGUST 2010

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

by Lewis E. MacCarter

NO

I

am a retired biologist and statistician who has for some time been involved in local fishing issues, especially in attempting to save our local commercial fishing fleet.

This letter is to respectfully urge caution, in light of the implied intention of changing policy so as to create catch shares as a new market commodity.

Obviously, if fishing quotas, permits, etc., are commoditized, they will by definition become property. Then, if the government finds that this proposed fishery management policy (like so many of the management policies before it) is not working out, they are going to have problems of buying out owners or facing lawsuits regarding perceived and potentially real takings.

Family-owned small boats will cease to exist if catch shares are implemented as a commodity that may be speculated upon.

This is true even if the catch shares are time-limited to, say, 10 years. Small fishing boats are, as from the beginning of history, just barely supporting their families as it is.

If catch shares become commodities, the market price will soon soar out of the reach of such small family businesses. In New Zealand, such catch share programs have quickly led to 85 to 90 percent of all the shares being controlled by five

Rationalization

will eliminate family-owned small boats companies; similar results have been experienced in some Alaska crab fisheries. There is abundant evidence in other fisheries globally, as well as other food production systems, that consolidation on an industrial scale degrades the environment and undermines food security. This industrial scale consolidation of the fishing industry will also be the literal death of the fishing community, which the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires you to protect.

A fishing community is not a location but a culture centering on small family-owned boats and the businesses they support.

Assigning catch shares to a geographic location, under the assumption that a geographic “fishing community” is being protected, is giving all price decisions to local processors and buyers so that the fishermen will have to take whatever is offered. This has in the past proven unsatisfactory because there is not a lot of different processors or buyers in any given area to provide competition for each other. Fishing boats are mobile, but fuel is expensive and it costs to go elsewhere, so the local buyers or processors have a modest advantage anyway if they offer a fair price.

If this policy must be implemented in any

form, it is essential that: 1. Transferability shall be permitted only among fishermen and permit banks inextricably tied to fishermen or community fishing associations (of fishermen and women, not processors, or buyers) for the use and benefit of the fishermen and family-based professional fishing community.

2. Transfers shall only be allowed at no greater cost than the original cost of the share and only when the purchaser does not already own one or more shares (shares shall not be loan collateral).

3. Shares shall be assigned to persons and/or boats — not processors, not buyers, not geographic locales.

4. Strict limitations shall be set upon what percentage of the catch may be assigned to, or controlled by, a single boat, or a single individual or person (whether a flesh-andblood person or a single corporation).

5. Fish and fish quotas shall not be allowed into investment markets.

I look forward to attaining a workable, environmentally sound, and equitable ocean policy.

Lewis E. MacCarter is a retired biologist and statistician in Morro Bay, Calif.

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AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 19

YOUR BUSINESS

Your turn

by Dan Strickland

A breathtaking glimpse of Alaska’s future They y say that life should not be measured by the number b off breaths b h we take, k but b by b the moments that take our breath away.

I would suggest that the Deepwater Horizon blowout is one such moment. It should take our breath away. It’s the clearest example yet of the potential for significant and lasting damage to the ocean environment from offshore drilling, an environment where we make our living.

This catastrophe has been writ large upon America’s consciousness. It has been so egregious and so devastating that it has exposed what fishermen and environmentalists have been saying for years: Strictly business: Oil companies, logically enough, behave like corporations, maximizing profits, aggressively lobbying for reduced regulations and oversight, and spending as little as possible on safety, prevention, and response.

In the case of BP’s Deepwater Horizon, this behavior came back with a deep bite, and now there are rumblings of real changes: a reorganization of the regulatory agency, the Minerals Management Service (previously the MMS, now known as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement), a moratorium on new drilling, raising liability caps, and more.

Time will tell. We seem to have a remarkable capacity for forgetfulness and an aggravatingly short attention span.

Even as the gulf disaster plays out — in the awful face of dead and dying sea turtles and dolphins and oiled pelicans — the cry still goes up for more drilling in the gulf and also in Alaska: in Bristol Bay, the Bering, Beaufort and Chukchi seas. Never mind the dangers or the consequences.

Pressure to drill: Though President Obama protected Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea until 2017, pressure is still on to open this area to oil and gas development, and since the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas don’t fall under the presidential withdrawal, they also are only temporarily exempt from drilling.

Shell Oil, the interested operator in Alaska, claims that the shallow waters in the north preclude the kind of accident that befell the Deepwater Horizon. But the Montara blowout off Australia in August of last year was drilled at a depth of only 220 feet.

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This spill lasted 74 days before a relief well make it harder to see is not a wise thing to do The EPA b banned Corexit was able bl to plug l it. d to marine llife. f Th dC Lois Epstein, an engineer and oil industry from use in the gulf after an investigation. specialist with the Cook Inlet Keeper, called Yet an earlier report from the same comthe shallow depth argument a “distinction pany that Shell bases its response claims without a difference.” Pressures might be on declares that “Dispersants provide an less and the well casing can be thinner, but invaluable third response option when the same possibilities exist for accidents, strong wind and sea conditions make equipment failures, human error, and mechanical cleanup and in situ burn techniques unsafe.” blowouts.

And they list Corexit as the weapon Shallow blowouts: In fact, a 2007 MMS study found that “most blowouts occurred of choice.

BP exec Tony Hayward’s now-famous in water depths of less than 500 feet.” And it’s debatable whether 200 feet down in the quip — “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big waters of the Bering Sea (envision winter ocean. The amount of oil and dispersant we storm conditions) is any more accessible are putting into it is tiny…”— ignores the fact that it’s been significant enough to kill than a mile deep in the Gulf of Mexico.

And this just speaks to the more visibly thousands and thousands of fish and birds spectacular blowouts. If development were and marine mammals.

The oil-and-ice report also states, “In to go forward, all the associated risks and pollution we’ve chronicled and warned the event that ice conditions preclude safe about — seismic disruption, toxic discharg- surface operations, the oiled ice could be es, potential spills from tankers and pipelines, etc. — remain just as dangerous.

The Deepwater Horizon is the ultimate I told you so.

The gulf fishermen didn’t K_\ dfY`c\ jXk\cc`k\ ZfdgXep need that. Alaskan and Pacific Northwest fishermen don’t need that.

Shell also claims that it has the technology to clean oil in ice-covered waters.

An industry-funded study performed experiments in the Barents Sea off Norway, and technicians reported cleanup efforts this year that sound just as effective and sanitary as those promised by BP in the Gulf of Mexico.

Lies: But now we know that BP’s promises for the gulf were bald-faced lies, without the slightest modicum of truth. Can we believe Shell’s soothing assurances?

For example, we have learned that dumping millions of gallons of toxic dispersants onto the oil to

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tracked until spring.”

Oilspeak: This is deceptively benign oilspeak, admitting that if a gulf-magnitude spill occurred in Alaskan waters during the winter months (our longest season), Shell could no more effectively attack it than BP has been able to respond to its own nightmare.

Albert Einstein once said, “Today’s problems cannot be solved if we still think the way we thought when we created them.”

It’s time for us to face the true consequences of doing business as usual. We’re destroying our oceans, and ultimately, if we continue, we’ll destroy ourselves.

Let’s resolve to protect our oceans from the dangers of offshore drilling.

BP spent millions to promote a cleangreen corporate image, left, while below is what the company delivered.

Ò

Long-time Alaska fisherman Dan Strickland is the Bristol Bay fisheries liaison for the Alaska Marine Conservation Council.

Shell’s promise about your Arctic This comes with Shell’s official plan to deal with oil spills and blowouts in its offshore drilling operations in Alaska’s Arctic: For the remote possibility of a major spill, Shell has provided, on location, a highly trained response team and the best available resources for an immediate response to contain, recover, and/or eliminate the discharge, thereby minimizing environmental impacts.

The drilling program will begin after the near-shore fast ice has broken up and proceed in predominantly open water conditions until freeze-up.

Because of the possibility of ice incursions during the open water period and natural variability of the timing and duration of freeze-up, Shell’s oil spill response strategies and tactics have been designed to cover a wide range of open water and ice conditions.

With the potential for spill control in broken ice, strategies will include the recovery of isolated pockets of oil contained naturally by the ice as well as the elimination of oil using controlled burning.

Shell’s operations are significant as the oil industry expands its offshore oil exploration and production activities in cold climates worldwide.

Using innovative concepts and equipment, Shell’s highly skilled team will be on location and ready to respond to a major spill and mitigate any impacts to the environment or subsistence activities.

You can read all of Shell’s Beaufort Sea Exploratory Drilling Program Oil Spill Prevention and Response at Pacific Fishing’s website: www.pacificfishing.com.

Once there, look for “Pacific Fishing Resources” at the bottom on the right side of the page. Click. There, you will find a link called “Shell’s Oil Spill Plan for Alaska’s Arctic.”

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AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 21

MID-COAST REPORT

by Cassandra Marie Profita Monterey Aquarium blunder, halibut bycatch, salmon genetics

Halibut bedevils groundfish fleet: Halibut is a lucrative catch Just plain wrong: Oregon troll-caught for some fishermen but a looming death knell for West Coast salmon: DO NOT BUY? groundfish trawlers.

The horror!

The allocated halibut quota shares for the fleet are about half of The Monterey Bay Aquarium shocked fishwhat the fishery caught last year. ermen in June by listing Oregon and California troll-caught wild “Nobody has enough fish,” said Warrenton trawler Paul Kujala. salmon on its “do not buy” list.

But Kujala said trawlers thought they might work around The aquarium sets the industry standard for eco-friendly grocers the problem by making shorter tows with smaller volume and and restaurants, and it took a firm stand backing Alaskan fisheries releasing live halibut unharmed.

The fleet is not allowed to keep any halibut — a rule designed to and Washington troll-caught salmon in June.

But, the site announced, eco-minded buyers should “avoid prevent trawl boats from targeting them. wild-caught salmon from California and Oregon.”

Then came the really bad news, delivered at a Groundfish Alaskan fisheries are “the most intensively managed” fisheries Advisory Committee meeting in June. The International Halibut with “excellent management” and 10 times as much fish as Oregon, Commission rules will automatically dock the trawlers for 20 Washington, and California combined. percent delayed mortality on whatever hali“It’s relatively pristine and does not face the but they release. s same development, deforestation as salmon in “The observers on board are going to grade C California and the Pacific Northwest.” them, mark which ones are dead and alive, Oregon Salmon Commission Chairman Darus and we thought we’d only be counted for P Peake was aghast. dead ones,” Kujala said. “We were planning “They lumped us together with farmed fish!” on that.” h said. “This is a first, and it’s a hell of a hit. he Under halibut commission rules, the best H Here we are with a glut, and they’re trying to rating trawl-caught halibut can get after it’s s sustain it. This hurts. It really hurts.” hauled aboard is “good” condition, which Peake said he thought the listing was “so assumes that when the fish are released, 20 fa false” because many of the salmon caught in percent of them will die.

A Alaska migrate north from Oregon.

“Basically, no matter what, there will be 20 “Many come from the Columbia River and h hatcheries off the coast,” he said. “All those percent mortality on what you catch,” said r raised in Alaska still drink the same water and Kujala. “A lot of us only have a few hundred e the same food. … This is a very frustrating eat pounds. You can catch that in one tow.” th thing to do to fishermen.”

Pete Leipzig, director of the Fishermen’s

Marketing Association, said the halibut S a l m o n g e n e tic study on again: A commission numbers are based on outFolks who own these pretty windows g genetic stock identification program lookdated studies taken from fisheries in Alaska in Monterey decided to throw rocks ing at distribution patterns and migrawhen foreign fishing operations were still at the commercial salmon fishery off tory timing of Chinook salmon stocks off occurring.

California and much of Oregon. the coast of Oregon is back in full swing, “The size is so different from our fishery,” with fishermen collecting fish samples and marking the Leipzig said. “We make smaller tows. Our total catches are smaller. location of their catches. The study aims to identify the river of … These fish are going to be caught and returned to the sea, and origin and look at where certain runs are in the ocean so if zero mortality occurs, you could make the system work. Having fishery managers can set ocean fishing seasons that will protect such a strict mortality standard … we’re going to have to revisit that. fragile stocks.

When the best you can do is 20 percent mortality, that starts to add up Renee Bellinger of Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine real quick.”

Science Center in Newport said the program had sampled 1,500 Meanwhile, several boats have begun testing halibut excluders fish in the central and southern Oregon areas by late June.

— so far to no avail.

A report on May’s sampling of 550 Chinook showed mid– “We tried them, and we got just as many,” Kujala said. “One time Columbia River tules were a dominant component of the catch off it excluded everything, just about. I’m not saying it can’t be done. central and southern Oregon.

I’m saying nobody’s figured out how to do it yet.”

South of Florence, the mid–Columbia River tules and Central Leipzig said several fishermen are looking at what boats have Valley fall Chinook made up about equal portions of the catch. In done in the North Pacific, adjusting their net design and adding both fisheries, the next largest portions of the catch after the Columexcluders to make their fishing techniques more efficient. But boats bia tules and Central Valley fall Chinook, in descending order, were in the northern fisheries are a lot bigger than most West Coast mid–Oregon Coast, Rogue River, Upper Columbia River summer and fall, Klamath River, and lower Columbia fall fish. trawlers, he said, and they have bigger crews too.

The project wasn’t able to sample during the troll season in 2008 “People are talking, and they’re thinking,” he said. “Fishermen are creative people, and one of the outcomes of the IFQ program is, and 2009, but sampled around 8,000 fish in 2006 and 2007. in order to avoid species they have very little quota for, people will Pacific Fishing columnist Cassandra Marie Profita covers commercial become more creative in tweaking their gear.” fishing for The Daily Astorian.

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ALASKA NOTEBOOK Rationalized rockfish, money for Kodiak, charter boat stings

by Wesley Loy

Rockfish renewal: The North Pacific Fishery Management survived the governor ’s veto pen. The Council in June approved a catch shares program for the central project long has been one of Kodiak’s fondest Gulf of Alaska rockfish fishery. The program will replace a similar legislative priorities. The goal is to upgrade management regime that’s governed the Kodiak-based fishery on Fish and Game’s existing building, a pilot basis since 2007. Target species include Pacific Ocean perch constructed in 1973, with a new home featuring research capability. and northern, dusky, yellowtail, and widow rockfish.

Compared to Gulf cod Charter boat stings: As competition intensifies for or pollock, rockfish is a d declining halibut stocks, commercial longliners no doubt relatively small fishery in h have been pleased to see a recent crackdown on violations terms of ex-vessel value. But in the charter boat fleet. Undercover wildlife troopers in it has loomed large as somes summer 2009 went on charter boats operating out of Elfin thing of a litmus test for how C Cove and Anchor Point, and the investigations yielded liberally Alaska is willing c convictions this spring. In the biggest case, Joe to “rationalize” its fisherK Kulavik of Vancouver, Wash., pleaded guilty on behalf of his ies. Significantly, the council c company to sport-fish guide violations. The company, dropped an option to award E Elfin Cove Eagle Charters Alaska, was fined $150,000 with some catch shares to proces$ $90,000 suspended and was placed on probation for three sors. The rockfish fishery y years.

The state agreed to return four seized boats as part of involves 53 trawl vessels th the plea agreement. divided into eight harvest Four Elfin Cove guides and two deckhands also drew cooperatives. fi fines and probation after pleading guilty to violations such

a catching an overlimit of halibut, using too much gear, as Juneau watch: Gov. Sean falsifying logbook entries, Parnell in late June signed using rockfish as bait, fishing into law two bills of high illegally for lingcod, and wastimportance to the fishing ing sharks by killing them and industry, and he approved throwing them overboard. a big capital project for Ed Hisaw sent this photo of In a separate case, Jeffrey Kodiak.

Brayden Hisaw taken on Glosser of Anchorage was Parnell signed Senate Bill Bristol Bay in June 2009. fined $10,000 with $5,000 sus163 revising the Fishermen’s pended after pleading guilty Fund, a kind of state insurance program for commerciall to guiding violations aboard w fishermen who are injured or fall ill on the job. The new the Anchor Point charter boat law increases the claim allowance from $2,500 to $10,000.

Big But. Glosser allowed three The Fishermen’s Fund is what’s known as a “payer of lastt clients to keep fish over the resort.” That means, for example, that the fund can pay forr daily bag limit of two halibut care in the case of an injured fisherman who is underin-per person, troopers said. sured. The prime sponsor of SB 163 was Sen. Joe Paskvan,

D-Fairbanks.

Canned salmon trends: The governor also signed House Bill 344 to extend thee The May edition of the salmon product development tax credit by four years, Seafood Market Bullethrough 2015. This tax break has been around since 2003.

24-pound pound Stikine tin, funded by the Alaska It was among steps the state took to help the depressed Jarod Pate of Kake holds a 24 king aboard F/V Shelo in June 2009. James Seafood Marketing Institute, salmon industry better compete with fish farmers. The VandeBunte Stikine photo had some interesting notes goal is to encourage processors to add value to the salmon Alaska’s canned salmon production.

Despite consistently big on. Equipment for filleting fish, removing pinbones, and packing sockeye harvests, canned sockeye output has declined substansalmon in convenient pop-top cans are examples of investments tially since 2004.

The 949,000 cases produced in 2009 was down 34 eligible for the tax credit. percent compared to 2004, even though the sockeye harvest was The new law adds ice machines to the list of qualified roughly the same those two seasons.

As for pink salmon, inveninvestments. Processors already have earned several million dollars in credits, the Department of Revenue says. The prime tory was light coming into this year, and with a small statewide sponsor of HB 344 was Haines Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, harvest of 69 million pinks expected, wholesale prices might stay at the current 20-year high. himself a commercial fisherman.

F i n a l l y, a $ 2 0 m i l l i o n a p p ro p r i a t i o n l e g i s l a t o r s Pacific Fishing columnist Wesley Loy has covered fisheries in the included in the 2011 capital budget for a new Department North Pacific for more than a decade. See his blog at www.deckboss. of Fish and Game research facility on Kodiak’s Near Island blogspot.com.

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AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 23

ALASKA WATCH ‘Alaska’ sells, while Pacific cod and flatfish sell well

by Laine Welch

preferences helps Alaska marketers hone their World’s top fish: What is the most popular fish in the world?

It’s codfish, and Alaska is the world’s leading producer of messages to buyers. That’s the goal of annuPacific cod. During the years of the collapse of Atlantic cod stocks, al surveys by the Alaska Seafood Marketing customers turned to Pacific cod as a substitute. Now that both Institute.

“Part of the purpose is to give us something stocks are on the rebound, Pacific cod is maintaining its market to take to our customers to say, ‘See, this is what people think about share.

In recent years, Atlantic cod production has been around 1 Alaska seafood. You should put this brand on your menu, in your million tons, with Pacific cod production about half of that. Alaska store,’ showing them there is demand for Alaska seafood that can accounts for 66 percent of Pacific cod fish production, followed add to their profitability,” said Laura Fleming, ASMI’s communicap and South Korea account for tions director.

by Russia at 20 percent, and Japan Here’s a sampler of the latthe rest. est survey of 800 consumers Currently, Atlantic cod from four U.S. regions: stocks are rebuilding, and “The biggest thing in our cod stocks in the Pacific are favor is that interest in wild, on the increase as well. Total natural, and sustainable seacatches this year in the Bering food is strong. Seventy-five Sea and Gulf of Alaska are up percent feel it is important 16 percent to more than 500 to know the origin. That is million pounds. That’s due important to us because we mostly to a big boost in the base all our marketing on our Gulf of Alaska, where codfish Alaska origin — the brand is catches increased by nearly Alaska.

44 percent.

“And 72 percent feel it is It doesn’t look like wild cod important for it to be environwill face competition from mentally friendly. People are farmed fish anytime soon. eating more seafood at home Major companies that had than they were two years ago. invested heavily in farmed “And health benefits were cod projects have quit that cited as the top reason that business and are focusing people are consuming more on farmed salmon, reports seafood. Eighty-two percent ASMI’s “Seafood Market said seeing the Alaska seafood Bulletin.” logo would increase their like lihood of purchase. Wild is in Flatfish: Alaska also ranks front position as a descriptor, first in the U. S. for catches of followed by ‘ocean-caught’— flatfish. and consumers did state a When it comes to flats, preference for seafood that Alaskans don’t think much is not farm raised. And they beyond halibut. But nearly said they were concerned 600 million pounds of a varithat the seafood is sustainable ety of flounders, plus skates, Postcard: Judy Francisco sent along this photo of the tender Sierra Seas as it waits for its first delivery in Uyak Bay last year. and from a fishery that is well are landed in Alaska every managed.” year, and fishermen could Why do people think catch much more. seafood Alaska different? f d ffrom Al k iis diff t?

More than 70 percent of the catch h iis yellowfin ll fi and d rock k sole, l “It’s the water,” Fleming said. “Over half the people cited clean, which go primarily to Asian markets. It was valued at more than pure, cold water as the reason Alaska seafood is different.” $100 million last year.

A similar ASMI survey asked Central Europeans if they were Cod, flounders, pollock, skates — all of these get lumped into familiar with at least one seafood product from Alaska, and 93 perthe groundfish category. These fish account for more than 80 cent said Alaska salmon, 70 percent said Alaska pollock, 60 percent percent of Alaska’s total landings each year, and more than half the said Alaska cod. total dockside value.

Pacific Fishing columnist Laine Welch covers Alaska fisheries Know your customers: Keeping tabs on U.S. seafood from Kodiak.

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DUTCH HARBOR REPORT Trawl survey expands, selling Unalaska, new trawler paint job

by Wesley Loy

Trawl survey stretches north: Thanks to $1.2 million in new improvements and isn’t expected to fish again research funding related to loss of sea ice, federal fishery scientists until the pollock A season in early 2011.

say they’ll be able to expand this summer’s Bering Sea bottom Boffo blotter: One way to get a feel for the trawl survey all the way north to the Bering Strait.

“With this expansion, all of the eastern Bering Sea shelf with- rougher side of Unalaska life is to read the in U.S. waters will be surveyed,” says a recent write-up from the local police blotter, composed mainly by the town’s literary law enforcement officer, Sgt. Jennifer Shockley. Here’s a half-dozen Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

The annual trawl survey is among the tools scientists use to classic entries from the blotter so far this year: JUNE 9 — An understandably perturbed caller reported an determine the size of groundfish and crab stocks. Expanding the survey farther north could yield especially interesting results for unidentified person had left a dead raven inside his car.

MARCH 9 — Officers investigated a disturbance at a processing species such as snow crab that favor cold water, said Mike Sigler, a marine biologist with the science center. The survey results should plant, apparently precipitated by one roommate keeping a logbook of the other roombe out in midmate’s every snore, September. cough, and other

non-verbal bodily Unalaska’s milnoise. The subject of lion-dollar men: the log became rathDutch Harbor and er perturbed when the adjacent city of he discovered what Unalaska perenniwas being written ally rank at the top about him, and the among U.S. ports two puerile procesfor commercial seasors subsequently food landings by engaged in a minor weight. This remote pushing match. No Aleutian outpost charges were filed. has worked hard MARCH 3 — EMS to establish itself as personnel offered the hub of the rich medical care to a Bering Sea fisheries, trembling, drunken and it aims to mainman with a bloody tain its status. nose and the word So little wonder “LOSER” written on that the Unalaska The pollock factory trawler Northern Hawk sports a new paint job. Coastal Villages Region Fund photo his head. The inebriCity Council on ate refused care.

June 8 authorized MARCH 1 — Two processors engaged in a battle for control of contracts with its lobbyists for another year.

Brad Gilman will make $76,000 as the city’s man in Washing- a yellow bucket full of soapy water. One processor conceded the ton, D.C. City records show Unalaska has paid him $1 million since sudsy bucket after his supervisor bade him yield, but later con1995. In Juneau, Ray Gillespie will make $79,000 working for Unal- fronted the victor in a dark alley and allegedly slapped him across the face. There were no witnesses to the misdeed. aska. The city has paid Gillespie about $1.4 million since 1991.

FEB. 24 — Officer responded to the Alyeska Trading Co. regard Painted with pride: The next time the big pollock factory trawl- ing an intoxicated, aggressive customer. Investigation revealed that er Northern Hawk shows up in Dutch Harbor, people might not the drunken customer found the store clerk far too effeminate for recognize her. That’s because the 341-foot ship went into a Victoria his tastes and subsequently threw his Ding Dongs, for which he shipyard this summer for a paint job to match the company colors had suddenly lost all appetite, into the trash. The clerk stated he felt threatened by the drunken customer and requested that he be of the new owner, Coastal Villages Region Fund.

Coastal acquired the Northern Hawk in May as part of a business given a trespass advisement.

FEB. 9 — Two drunken bantam fishermen engaged in chestbreakup with Seattle-based American Seafoods. Owning such a large and powerful fishing ship outright is a major milestone for puffing and collar-snatching threat displays inside the Cape Anchorage-based Coastal, which holds rights under a federal pro- Cheerful lounge. A wiser man took the two under his wing and gram to harvest a share of the Bering Sea fish and crab stocks for escorted them from the bar before police arrived. the benefit of disadvantaged Western Alaska villages.

The trawler’s new colors — white and sky blue with yellow Pacific Fishing correspondent Wesley Loy has been filling in with the trim — replace the white and black coat the vessel wore as part Dutch Harbor Report for the past two issues. Beginning in our September of American’s fleet. The Northern Hawk is undergoing factory issue, Alexandra M. Gutierrez will debut with her Letter from Unalaska.

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PACIFICFISHING 25

B.C. UPDATE Good prices on West Coast, no fish expected from Skeena

by Michel Drouin

Member of Parliament John Cummins, a Good news on Barkley Sound: Sockeye returning to the West former Fraser River gillnetter himself, conCoast of Vancouver Island looked good earlier this summer.

Fishermen in the first opening in early June got $2.75 a pound tinued his unrelenting attack on some of the for round fish and $3.10 for dressed. Landings worked out to an scientific advisors. average of 175 fish per boat.

Cummins argued that, as the commission One fisherman I know reported getting 300, and some reported is investigating DFO’s management of the fishery, former advisors catches as high as 400 pieces. and staffers of DFO have no place on the commission.

Carl Walters, professor at the University of British Columbia, Now, the bad news: There is likely going to be no sockeye Thomas Quinn, fisheries professor at the University of Washington, fishing in the Skeena River this year because of low numbers. ocean scientist Paul LeBlond, and scientist Brian Riddell all have As for the Fraser, as of this writing, no one knew. previous close associations with DFO.

In addition, the panel of what Cummins called “insiders” People for protein: In the past year, the Protein for People advised Cohen on what scientific research the inquiry should be Project raised more than $67,000 for canned salmon and services conducting and who should be doing the research. for food bank clients throughout B.C. “The work of 13 scientists who have been engaged by the The project held a salmon and tuna barbecue for donors and inquiry to do the research will have their reports vetted behind supporters June 17. closed doors by the scientific panel of insiders,” Cummins wrote Spearheaded by former United Fishermen and Allied Workers in a press release.

Union President John Radosevic, The Protein for People Project B.C. “The reports of the is made up of 16 labor 113 scientists will then unions participating in become evidence in the b an affiliate council. hearings, but the panel’s h People for Protein’s aadvice to the inquiry organizers say they given behind closed g hope circumstances will doors won’t. d improve, but there are “The Cohen Inquiry increasing numbers of has turned into a farce h individuals and families with DFO insiders invesw turning to the food bank tigating themselves.” ti for help.

At the commission The objectives of the hearing June 16, lawyer h program are simple: To Chris Harvey, representC raise more funds to puring the United Fisherin chase more food for food men and Allied Workers m banks and to expand the Union and the Area G U number of community Trollers Association, had T forums throughout the ssimilar concerns. province.

“Obtain indepenA pilot community dent scientific input — d forum was organized Greenpeace went after Costco Wholesale in Vancouver a few weeks ago, hanging a banner independent of DFO,” in partnership with the that claimed the big box store engaged in “Wholesale Ocean Destruction.” The banner, alas, Harvey said. “No one Surrey Food Bank in did not last long. can be independent of 2008. This forum helps labor to identify resources and share infor- the entity that controls their financial destiny. Go outside B.C. for mation with food bank clients and to connect with and support advice. Go to Alaska. Recruit the best scientists who are not in anyunemployed workers. way tainted. Don’t use the same group that failed to predict the

collapse in 2009. That would be to repeat the mistake made on the Cohen Commission: The Cohen Commission of Inquiry into East Coast when the cod fishery collapsed. Or recommend immedithe Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River launched its ate funding to participants for retention of scientific advisors.” hearings in Vancouver June 15, with two days of submissions from Lawyer David Butcher, representing the B.C. Fisheries participants with standing.

Survival Coalition and Southern Area E Gillnet Association, echoed The commission plans to conduct evidentiary hearings start- concerns by Cummins and Harvey about the close relationship the ing in September on issues that the commission is mandated to commission’s scientists have had with DFO in the past. investigate.

Participants also are critical of the lack of funding for staff to In opening remarks from many participants, Justice Bruce Cohen scrutinize the 35,600 documents the federal government has heard they were distressed at the lack of funding for independent swamped the commission with. scientific representation.

There was continuing criticism of the scientific advisors on the Pacific Fishing columnist Michel Drouin covers commercial fishing commission as well. from Vancouver.

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What's New...

NPFVOA Vessel Safety Program: Promoting Safety in the North Pacific Fleet for 25 years The actions of a well-trained crew can make the difference between survival in an emergency at sea, or tragedy. The best-constructed and equipped vessel is only as good a risk as the people who own and operate it.

NPFVOA knows that knowledge and preparation are vital to survival and NPFVOA provides hands-on safety training and education to boost emergency preparedness for owners, skippers and crews.

The NPFVOA Vessel Safety Program is a non-profit association totally dedicated to safety education and training for commercial fishermen and other mariners. Developed in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard in 1985, NPFVOA remains the model safety program for commercial fishermen. Attendance in its safety classes has exceeded 37,000 and although most NPFVOA classes are held at Fisherman’s Terminal in Seattle or onboard vessels, classes are portable and have been held throughout Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington and on the East Coast.

NPFVOA strives to facilitate a high level of safety awareness in the North Pacific fishing fleets. As a non-profit, membership-based organization, NPFVOA works very closely with regulatory agencies such as the Coast Guard and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), and keeps its members apprised of issues important to the safety of their crews and vessels.

NPFVOA VESSEL SAFETY TRAINING CLASSES NPFVOA Vessel Safety Program offers Coast Guardapproved hands-on safety training classes for commercial fishermen and other mariners. Training also includes non-Coast Guard approved courses that can be tailored to fit your particular vessel and crew experience. Some examples of our 24 classes: * Basic Fire Prevention and Control * Emergency Drill Instructors’ Workshop * Fishing Vessel Stability

* Hazwoper-24 hour and 8 hour * Medical Emergencies at Sea * Navigation: Collision Avoidance * Onboard Emergency Drill Orientation * OSHA Compliance Review * Safety Equipment and Survival Procedures * Shipboard Damage Control Training * Shipboard Watertight Door and Hatch Training * STCW Basic Safety Training * STCW Medical Care Provider

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP NPFVOA’s membership is composed of approximately 225 vessels and 100 support businesses and individuals. NPFVOA regularly provides information to its members on subjects such as USCG requirements, OSHA compliance and standards, international safety standards, MARPOL/OPA-90 compliance, current compliance issues, drug regulations. Other benefits of membership include: Discounted tuition for the USCG-approved safety training classes offered by NPFVOA, direct mail/broadcast emails on safety-related issues of special interest, informative seminars and workshops with leading experts on current issues, NPFVOA membership mailing list to members only (upon request), quarterly newsletters, special discounts on educational safety materials, database of crew training histories, and last but not least, priority in their Spring and Fall Fundraising Golf Tournaments — a great way to network with a broad spectrum of industry members.

After 25 years of providing safety awareness and education to over 37,000 of the maritime industry, NPFVOA continues to update and develop new programs. As the commercial fishing industry continues to evolve and the regulations become more complex, NPFVOA will continue to be on the forefront of compliance issues and safety training .

COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN’S FESTIVAL MOVES TO TONGUE POINT

Eco-friendly bilge oil collector Fast Oil Recovery Systems (FORS) has pioneered an innovative device that proponents say could prevent millions of gallons of oil from entering the world’s oceans. The unassuming device is being hailed as the first truly eco-friendly solution to one of the world’s most damaging marine pollutants.

“Bilge oil has been killing marine wildlife and polluting our oceans for far too long,” says Bob Elliott, vice-president of FORS and the visionary behind the Bilge Oil Collector. “Our goal is to stop bilge oil pollution entirely by making it more convenient and cost effective for boat operators to protect the environment than to damage it.”

The FORS Bilge Oil Collector removes 99.9 percent of the oil in a ship’s bilge and is the first system that actually collects the oil for recycling as a valuable resource. The device can be programmed to automatically remove up to two gallons of oil a day and requires no maintenance other than periodically emptying the reservoir.

“What’s unbelievable is that no one thought of this sooner,” says Elliott. “The Bilge Oil Collector generally pays for itself in just six months, and each unit is going to keep hundreds of gallons of oil out of our oceans and landfills over the course of its lifetime.

“The Coast Guard continually upgrades its environmental regulations to reflect advances in technology,” he adds. “I wouldn’t be surprised if, a few years from now, it’s illegal to throw oil-soaked pads into a landfill rather than recycle them.”

Contact: Bob Elliott • FAST OIL RECOVERY SYSTEMS 250-616-7817 sales@ForsOilRecovery.com P.O. Box 108, Qualicum Beach, BC V9K 1S7 Canada

Festival Director Ron Williams is enthusiastic about the new location for the Commercial Fishermen’s Festival.

Now in its third year, the Festival has grown so much that more space is needed to accommodate all the activities and visitors, so when the Port of Astoria acquired this facility last Fall, it seemed a natural fit.

“We’re excited to show the industry the facility,” says Jack Crider, Executive Director for the Port of Astoria. “We’re hoping captains and owners of commercial fishing boats come on down and see the potential of this site to accommodate King Crab and other fishing and marine vessels.”

The new facility offers closer access to the water, fantastic views across the Columbia River and more room for displays, programs, and competitions. “We can do things here that weren’t possible at Pier 1,” says Williams. “With better access to the water we can add more boats, along with a demonstration of a seine boat set and new water-based competitions.”

“Industry Vendors will be able to demonstrate their equipment in ways that simply are not possible with indoor events,” added Williams. “For example, David Rowland with Klassen Engine Company will be firing up a generator so Greg Sangster with Integrated Marine/Wescold can use the power to operate ice-making equipment.” Rowland is also bringing an FPT Iveco Marine Engine for display.

Tongue Point is located on the east end of Astoria, Oregon, just off of Highway 30.

For more information and to see the festival schedule: (503) 470-0463 ron@commercialfishermensfestival.com www.CommercialFishermensFestival.com

“What's New” is a service of Pacific Fishing's Advertising Department. Contact Diane Sandvik at (206) 962-9315 for more information.

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 27

PACIFIC FISHING market focus

N\ 9lp

High-Quality Long-Line

HALIBUT & BLACK COD :Xcc =fi Hlfk\

Your quality catch, teamed with expert marketing, equals better results.

+),$.+*$')''

Cell 206-999-8000 Fax 425-335-3393 Satellite Alaska Dispatch #0423 keith@northportďŹ sheries.com www.northportďŹ sheries.com

Covered Railways — Fiberglass, wood and metal professionals for all your vessel repair and maintenance.

RECOVER 99.9%

OF YOUR BILGE OIL AUTOMATICALLY. No need for messy absorbent pads!

(907) 874-4669 Wrangell, AK

The FORS T55 Tube Drive Bilge Oil Collector can collect 5 gallons of oil an hour. This recovered oil can then be recycled.

'6-- 4&37*$& 4)*1:"3% <eii mehai (* ^ekhi W ZWo" ),+ ZWoi W o[Wh je ][j oek XWYa je meha \Wij m_j^ l[ii[b h[fW_hi" ekjĂ&#x201E;jj_d]" cW_dj[dWdY[" cW`eh Yedl[hi_edi WdZ ^oXh_Z Yedl[hi_edi$

56#& %3*7& #*-(& 0*- $0--&$503

Tel. 250-616-7817

HYDRAULIC AND MACHINE WKS.

Splice King Power Block All Stainless Construction Greaseable Seal Built into Hub to Protect Motor Shaft Direct Drive Tapered Shaft Char-Lynn Motors Stainless Backup Plate Fully Adjustable Stainless Peelers Stainless Sheaves Stainless Hub 6 Sizes Available LINE COILER ALSO AVAILABLE

P.O. BOX 385 ASTORIA, OR 97103 (503) 325-0630 FAX (503) 325-0534 1-800-425-0630

28 Â&#x2026; PACIFICFISHING Â&#x2026;

AUGUST 2010

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WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

XXX GPTT DPN

PACIFIC FISHING market focus Professional Services PLACE YOUR AD HERE Advertise in

Call (206) 962-9315

Bellingham (Tony) Office 360-676-1606 Cell 360-739-3656

www.osbornepropellers.com

since 1935

Specialists in Marine Propeller Design, Manufacture and Repair 1865 Spicer Road, North Vancouver, BC, V7H 2V2 Bus 604-929-8407 Fax 604-929-7121 props@osbornepropellers.com

FISH HOLD

LAW OFFICES OF MIKKELBORG, BROZ, WELLS & FRYER, PLLC

Hockema & Whalen Associates Naval Architects • Marine Engineers

Fishing Vessels Tug & Barge Dredging Floating Cranes Cargo & Misc.

New Vessels Conversions Stability Analysis

“Serving the Maritime Community for 43 years.”

Representing clients in all maritime actions including: • Maritime Contracts & Shipyard Disputes • Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith • Maritime Casualties & Salvage • Business Formation & Transactions

5450 Leary Avenue NW #252 Tel: 206 365 0919 Seattle WA 98107 E-mail: boatstuff@hockema.com

Gibbons & Associates, P.S.

Contact: Jess G. Webster 1001 Fourth Avenue Suite 3600 Seattle, Washington 98154 (206) 623-5890 Fax: (206) 623-0965 jgwebster@mikkelborg.com www.mikkelborg.com

Over 25 years experience

Jackson, Morgan & Hunt, PLLC Gibbons & Associates, P.S. 4123 California Ave SW #101

email svg@gibbonslawgroup.com www.jmhseattle.com

SERVING THE MARINE INDUSTRY MOBILE SERVICE Oregon, Washington, Alaska & California Closed Cell Foam • Fiberglass • Gel Coat FAST SERVICE

RIGBY MARINE NEWPORT, OR

541-265-8100

FULL SERVICE SHIPYARD PROVIDING: One stop solution for all your vessel needs • Enclosed paint facility • Very competitive haul out rates and no lay day charges • Specializing in large fishing vessels • Quality workmanship • Exchange rate advantage •

“Make a stop in Vancouver, BC for on time, on budget, friendly service. It may be your best catch”

Vancouver Shipyards Co. Ltd. 50 Pemberton Ave., North Vancouver, BC V7P 2R2 Call Randy at (604) 990-3315 Fax (604) 990-3290 Email: info@vanship.com www.vanship.com

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AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 29

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds

THE PERMIT MASTER IFQs • VESSELS • PERMITS EXCEPTIONAL FULL SERVICE BROKERAGE — PERMITS — —IFQ— EXCEPTIONAL “FULL” SERVICE BROKERAGE SAMPLES 2,700# “C” SE BCOD @ $20 ANY# “B/C” WY BCOD @ WANTED ANY# “A/B/C” CG BCOD @ WANTED ANY# “B/C” WG BCOD @ WANTED 4,000# “A” AI BCOD BLKD @ $3 4,000# “A” AI BCOD BLKD @ LEASE ANY# “B” BS BCOD BLKD @ WANTED 2,000# “D” 2C HAL BLKD @ $19 FISHED ANY# “C” 2C HAL @ WANTED ANY# “B/C” 3A HAL @ WANTED ANY# “B” 3B HAL @ WANTED 3,500# “D“ 4A HAL BLKD @ $11 ANY# “B/C” 4B HAL @ WANTED 25,000# “B” 4C HAL UNBLKD @ $15 NEW LISTINGS DAILY. CALL FOR QUOTES OR CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE LIST ON THE WEB

P1670M – 88 X 24.5 STEEL TUNA LONGLINER, 12V149 GMC MAIN, BOWTHRUSTER, DECK CRANE, 2 HOLDS WITH PLATES AND BLAST TO 20 BELOW, BACK UP SYSTEMS AND LOADED W/SPARES. REDUNDANT ELECTRONICS. VERY WELL MAINTAINED THROUGHOUT. COMPLETE LONGLINE SYSTEM WITH 3,000 HOOKS. TURNKEY OPERATION INCLUDES HAWAII LONGLINE PERMIT. ASKING $750K.

P1782M – 64' POWER SCOW, TWIN 6-71 GMC, 12KW AUX, 4 CYLINDER ISUZU FOR DIRECT DRIVE RSW (RSW NOT OPERATIONAL), PACKS 50K IN DECK TANK, COMPLETE ELECTRONICS. ALL IN GOOD CONDITION. PERFECT LITTLE TENDER OR CONVERT TO ALMOST ANY USE. $35K.

HERRING SITKA SEINE ........................ $600K PWS SEINE ...................... WANTED COOK INLET SEINE ...................N/A KODIAK SEINE ....................... $32K SE GILLNET ........................... $15K KODIAK GILLNET ................... $10K NORTON SOUND ..................... $2K HOONAH POUND ................... $65K CRAIG POUND ......................... 17K PWS POUND .............................N/A SALMON S.E. DRIFT........................... $67.5K PWS DRIFT .......................... $135K COOK INLET DRIFT ................ $29K COOK INLET SET ................... $14K AREA M DRIFT ................. WANTED BBAY DRIFT ......................... $120K BBAY SET............................... $32K SE SEINE................................ $95K PWS SEINE ...................... WANTED KODIAK SEINE ....................... $30K CHIGNIK SEINE ...................... $90K AREA M SEINE ................. WANTED KOTZEBUE GILLNET ................ $5K

POWER TROLL ...................... $30K HAND TROLL ...................... $10.5K PUGET SOUND DRIFT............ $22K PUGET SOUND SEINE............ $80K SHELLFISH SE DUNGY 300 POT..................N/A SE DUNGY 225 POT............... $40K SE DUNGY 150 POT............... $24K SE DUNGY 75 POT................. $14K SE POT SHRIMP .................... $16K SE TANNER ............................ $65K SE RED .................................. $85K SE RED/TANNER .................... $85K SE RED/BRN .................... WANTED KODIAK TANNER.................... $29K PUGET S CRAB ................ WANTED DIVE SE GEODUCK ......................... $80K SE CUCUMBER ...................... $11K MISC. CAL LOBSTER ........................ $60K CAL SPOT PRAWN ............... $250K CAL SQUID ...................... $6K/TON CAL SQUID LITE BOAT........... $70K CAL SWORDFISH GILLNET.... $20K

LISTINGS WANTED!!!

IFQ: ALL AREAS BOATS: ALL KINDS PERMITS: ALL TYPES JOIN OUR LIST OF SATISFIED CUSTOMERS. CALL TODAY. BUYERS ARE WAITING.

www.permitmaster.com

PARTIAL LIST/CALL IF YOU DON’T SEE IT!

P1713M – 34' COMBO RIGGED FOR CRAB AND GILLNET, ECONOMICAL 6-354 PERKINS, DAVIT AND BLOCK, FURUNO SOUNDER, ECHOTEC PLOTTER, COMNAV PILOT. GREAT BOAT FOR THE SOUND AT A GREAT PRICE. MUST SELL, REDUCED TO $10.5K.

P1761M – 32' ROBERTS, 6BT CUMMINS MAIN, SLUSH TANKS W/BRAILERS, HEAD WITH SHOWER. TONS OF RECENT WORK. ALL NEW DECKS FROM HOUSE AFT. NEW INSULATED FISH HOLD, NEW HYD HOSES, REBUILT HYD VALVES, NEW CONTROLS, NEW PACER, NEW GPS. ASKING $45K.

P1772M – ALL AMERICAN BOW/STERNPICKER, TWIN 400HP CUMMINS, PITTS CLUTCHES DRIVING 291 HAMILTONS, 7.5 TON IMS RSW, COMPLETE ELECTRONICS. AVAILABLE AFTER 2010 SEASON. ASKING $200K.

P1791M – 34' 43 X 14.6 DONELLE LOBSTER BOAT BUILT IN 1998, C SERIES CUMMINS 350HP MAIN, 14KW ISUZU AUX, RSW, 14" HYDRO-SLAVE HAULER, FURUNO RADAR, SIMRAD COLOR PLOTTER, FURUNO SOUNDER, COMNAV PILOT. COMPLETE TURN-KEY OPERATION INCLUDES 500 POTS AND CALIFORNIA SPOT PRAWN LICENSE. ASKING $700K.

P1792M – 42' DELTA, 8V71 GMC MAIN, TWIN DISC GEAR, POWER TAKE OFF FRONT AND BACK FOR DECK GEAR AND RSW, TWIN PICKING BOOMS W/WINCHES, MAIN BOOM W/TOPPING AND VANGING. HYD DRIVEN RSW AND 6KW GEN SET. ASKING $165K.

P1795M – 28 X 11 BUFFALO CRABBER, LOW TIME ON D4 VOLVO AND DUOPROP I/O, GIVES EASY 20 KNOT CRUISE OR 30 TOPS. CRAB BLOCK ON ALUMINUM ARTICULATING DAVIT. JABSCO WASHDOWN/BILGE PUMP. WELL SET UP BOAT IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. PERFECT FOR PUGET SOUND OR SE AK. ASKING $95K.

CALL FOR A COMP L E T E L I S T O F V E S S E L S F O R S AL E

IN C L U D IN G MA NY BOAT/PERM IT PACKAGES

Toll Free: 888-588-1001 ONLINE @ www.permitmaster.com Email: vessels@permitmaster.com Fax: 360-293-4180 4302 Whistle Lake Rd • Anacortes, WA 98221

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds PACIFIC FISHING classifieds

Need great CREW? FOR SALE 45 ft. glass Sunnfjord longliner/troller: 6552 lb. 2C-C Halibut quota, Choice beachfront cabin/property in Port Alexander, Alaska. Boat (only): $130,000. Contact (907) 738-8294.

Use AlaskaCrewFinder.com to help fill your open positions: • FREE Job Postings!

• FREE Resume Searches!

• FREE Company Profile!

NEW Kaplan style prop, 59.5" diameter by 60" pitch. 4" standard taper with 70% DAR: RH. For sale at $8,000. Contact: Steve Drage, (503) 338-6190.

ALASKA FISHING INDUSTRY JOBS

Absolutely no cost for employers We specialize in all positions including:

Use AlaskaJobFinder.com to help you land your next position – deckhands, engineers, mates, captains, processors, cooks, management, etc.

• Deckhands & Processors • Mates & Captains • Engineers • Cooks • Etc.

Try it FREE at: www.AlaskaJobFinder.com/trial

Go to: AlaskaCrewFinder.com

F/V Nancy Ellen is available to catch Halibut Quota in areas 3B, 4A and 4B. Interested parties please call Byron or Paula at (907) 359-3655 or (907) 246-8510. Or email: singley_inc@yahoo.com.

Dock Street Brokers

TR10-008 36’x12’x4’ fiberglass troller built in 1987. Economical Mitsubishi main rated at 160 hp.

10,000 lbs fish hold capacity. 12” combination crab, longline block, trolling gurdies and all miscellaneous gear. Asking $115,000.

HALIBUT IFQ 2C-D-B: 3B-B-B: 3B-C-B: 4A-B-U: 4A-B-B: 4A-C-U: 4A-C-B: 4B-B-U: 4B-B-B: 4D-B-B: 4D-B-B:

2,500 lbs......asking $21.00 12,500 lbs....asking $23.00 5,000 lbs......asking $19.00 20,000 lbs....asking $16.00 6,800 lbs......asking $13.00 17,000 lbs....asking $15.00 3,500 lbs......asking $12.00 10,000 lbs....asking $12.00 7,000 lbs......asking $10.00 6,000 lbs......asking $12.00 2,500 lbs......asking $10.00

CR10-005 93’x30.8’ crabber/ tender/research vessel built in 1974 by Marine Power & Equipment, sponsoned in 1991. Detroit V16-149 rated at 940 hp. (2) G.M Model 50 232 kw new 1999. GM 4-71 75 kw. 30 ton deck mounted RSW system. Full tendering package. Possible lease of approximately 270,000# of opilio crab.

Asking $850,000.

(206)789-5101 (800)683-0297

58 ft Delta, New L.P. paint, New U.H.M.W. guards and cap rails, new tail shaft, new intermediate shaft, new bearings, new John Deere aux., rebuilt refrigeration, A.M. Aluminum 8” boom w/slider, 28” Marco powerblock with tire and swivel, new Valvoil hydraulic valves, two new picking booms, new #8, two #4’s, and vanging pullmaster winches, new air boot p.t.o., newer electronics. Asking $800,000; contact Tom at (310)505-8194.

F/V SARSEN - 53' ketch rigged motor sailer.

Price $210,000 cash or trade. Boat built 1994 Port Townsend, Skookum mold, Blue Water boat. Engine 6-71 Detroit, 36-inch prop, FG construction. Fish hold: 28,000 lbs., frozen 25 minus. 2,000+ gal. fuel, sails perfect condition, Northern Lights gen. 121/2 kW, all electronics, top brands, VHF, radar, weather fax, low-freq. radio, autopilot, GPS. Worked tuna three years, bottom painted and checked every season. Selling due to other business, no time to fish. Phone Capt. Mark Pratt, (pager) (206) 595-3146 or F.W. Pratt, (406) 671-5080. Boat in Ilwaco, WA.

LL10-004 58’x26’ steel longline catcher/processor built by Hansen in 1969. Sponsoned in 2008.

Mustad auto baiting system. Plate freezers with 2,600# per freezing cycle capacity. Packs 120,000# in two freezer holds. Asking $1,800,000.

SABLEFISH IFQ AI-B-U: 20,000 lbs........asking $3.00 CG-C-U: 10,000 lbs........asking $23.00 WG-C-B: 7,500 lbs.......asking $13.00 WG-C-B: 4,000 lbs.......asking $12.00 WG-C-B: 12,000 lbs.......asking $13.00

PL10-001 33’x11.5’ aluminum jet sport fisher built by Sea Master in 2002. Twin Yanmar 315hp mains with 490 hours. Hamilton 245 jets.

Sleeps 5. Asking $235,000.

SE8-014 52’ fiberglass seine/ crab/longline vessel built by Hansen in 1990. Rare opportunity for a top of the line, fully loaded seiner. Asking $725,000.

58' Delta. F/V Cape Reliant is ready to fish your ifq’s in 2008. Safe and reliable. Flexible schedule/ terms. Call (907) 518-1652 or (907) 772-3737 or dispatch: 0703 or Sat. phone: (866) 621-8890.

Come see us at www.dockstreetbrokers.com.

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 31

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds

BOX score

Boats/Permits/IFQs

Alaska Entry Permit Prices (as of 8-1-10) Species

Spend your time looking for fish.

Not financing.

We Finance t 1FSNJUT t 3FBM FTUBUF t 7FTTFMT t &RVJQNFOU t 3FQPXFST t 0QFSBUJOH MJOFT PG DSFEJU t :PVOH BOE CFHJOOJOH GJTIFSNBO

800.372.0112 farm-credit.com/fisheries

Fishery

SALMON S SE DRIFT S PWS DRIFT S COOK INLET DRIFT S AREA M DRIFT S BRISTOL BAY DRIFT S SE SEINE S PWS SEINE S COOK INLET SEINE S KODIAK SEINE S CHIGNIK SEINE S AREA M SEINE S COOK INLET SET S AREA M SET NET S BRISTOL SET NET S LOWER YUKON S POWER TROLL S HAND TROLL HERRING H SE GILLNET H KODIAK GILLNET H SITKA SEINE H PWS SEINE H COOK INLET SEINE H KODIAK SEINE H SE POUND SOUTH H SE POUND NORTH H PWS POUND SHELLFISH S SE DUNGY 75 POT S SE DUNGY 150 POT S SE DUNGY 225 POT S SE DUNGY 300 POT S SE POT SHRIMP S KODIAK TANNER <60 S PUGET SOUND DUNGY S WASHINGTON DUNGY S OREGON DUNGY S CALIFORNIA DUNGY SE ALASKA DIVE SE AK Dive URCHIN SE AK Dive CUCUMBER SE AK Dive GEODUCK

Asking Price*

Offer*

State Value*

62135 29+ 120 117.5+ 95 110 28+ 30 73.570+ 14 50 32 8.5 3010.5+

62 13029+ 115 110 87 100 17 29.5 70 60 1245 30 N/A 30 10

55.5 113.5 26.8 106.3 93.4 74.3 85.3 16.9 26.4 73.3 59.7 13 50.6 28.4 9.1 29.1 9.8

155 600 N/A 25 2417 584

144 500 30 15 20 16 553

14.9 4 290 10.3 9.3 21.3 18.8 62.5 2.9

14+ 24 40 70 17+ 29 75+ 1,500-2,750/FT 1,000-2,500/FT 400-1,500/FT+

10 N/A 37 60 16+ 25 75+ 1,000-2,500/FT 800-2,250/FT300-1,000/FT

15.3 28.6 40.8 67 15.3 24.8 N/A N/A N/A N/A

5 11 77

N/A 1075

3.5 10.7 77

Prices in AUGUST vary in accordance with market conditions.* in thousands + denotes an increase from last month. N/A denotes No Activity.

– denotes a decrease from last month.

By Mike Painter and the Permit Master Gillnet: Bay permits ended up in the $115k - $120k range as fishing started. Emergency transfers averaged around $15k for this season. SE permits were still trading in the low $60s as the season got rolling. PWS permits were available @ $135k, but the action was quieting down. Cook Inlet permits were still moving at the end of June with prices pushing close to $30k. Area M permits ended up around $120k by fishing time.

Seine: SE permits were in the $90s, but offers were only coming up to the high $80s. PWS permits were available at around $100k plus. Kodiak permits were holding at around $30k. Area M permits were available @ $70k, up slightly from the month before.

Troll: Power Troll permits were still available around $30k, but interest was dwindling at the end of June. Hand troll permits were up slightly at $10k plus. Washington permits were still wanted and a few Oregon permits were trading.

Crab/Shrimp: Puget Sound crab permits were scarce and buyers are lining up. Want to sell? Name your price. Interest in coast permits was down, with activity not expected to pick up for another couple months.

32 PACIFICFISHING

AUGUST 2010

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds Halibut & Sablefish IFQ Prices

Boats/Permits/IFQs

Recent market activity in halibut and sablefish quota shares

Species

Status Regulatory Vessel Poundage (blocked/ Area Category* (thousands) unblocked)

Ask

Offer

(per pound) Low High

(per pound) Low High

H

2C

D

1-10

B

21.00-25.00

20.00-24.00

H

2C

C/B

1-3

B

22.00-25.00

21.00-24.50

H

2C

C/B

4-10

B

24.00-26.00

24.00-25.00

H

2C

C/B

ANY

U

25.00-26.00

24.00-24.50

H

2C

A

B/U

N/A

25.00

H

3A

D

B/U

19.00-24.00

18.00-23.00

H

3A

C/B

1-5

B

20.00-24.00

19.00-22.00

H

3A

C/B

5-10

B

24.00-26.00

23.00-25.00

H

3A

C/B

>10

B

25.00-26.00

24.00-25.00

H

3A

C/B

>10

U

26.00-29.00

24.00-26.00

H

3A

A

B/U

28.00

26.00

H

3B

D

B

18.00-23.00

16.00-19.00

H

3B

C/B

1-10

B

17.00-20.00

17.00-18.50

H

3B

C/B

>10

B

20.00-23.00

17.00-19.00

H

3B

C/B

>10

U

20.00-23.00

18.00-19.00

H

3B

A

B/U

N/A

22.00

H

4A

D

B/U

10.00-14.00

9.00-10.00

H

4A

C/B

1-10

B

11.00-12.00

10.00-11.00

H

4A

C/B

>10

B

12.00-14.00

10.00-12.00

H

4A

C/B

>10

U

14.00-18.00

13.00-15.00

H

4B/C/D

C/B

1-10

B

9.50-13.00

7.00-8.50

H

4B/C/D

C/B

>10

B/U

11.00-15.00

9.00-11.00

S

SE

C/B

1-10

B

19.00-22.00

19.00-21.00

U

22.00-23.50

22.00-23.50

24.00

23.00 19.00-21.00

S

SE

C/B

>10

S

SE

A

B/U

S

WY

C/B

1-10

B

19.00-22.00

S

WY

C/B

>10

U

22.00-23.00

21.00-22.00

S

WY

A

B/U

23.00

23.00

S

CG

C/B

1-10

B

17.00-19.00

16.00-18.00

S

CG

C/B

>10

B/U

18.00-20.00

17.00-19.00

S

CG

A

B/U

20.00

20.00

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C/B

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11.00-12.00

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WG

C/B/A

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13.00-15.00

11.00-12.00

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C/B/A

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BS

C/B

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S

BS

A

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(206) 784-3703 FAX (206) 784-8823 4300 11th Ave. N.W. Seattle, WA 98107

*Vessel Categories: A = freezer boats B = over 60’ C = 35’-60’ D = < 35’ NOTE: Halibut prices reflect net weight, sablefish round weight. Pricing for leased shares is expressed as a percentage of gross proceeds. ** Too few to characterize.

www.coastalmarineengine.com

By Mike Painter and the Permit Master

Alaska Boats & Permits, Inc. PO BOX 505, HOMER ALASKA 99603

FULL SERVICE MARINE BROKERAGE FAX: 907-235-4965 E-MAIL: abp@acsalaska.net The IFQ market remains painfully slow for both halibut and blackcod. No changes are expected in the short term. As higher ex-vessel prices continue to stabilize, the higher quota share prices will be a little more justified. Buyers should keep an eye out for any deals that may come up in the fall on fished quota.

800-992-4960 907-235-4966 UPDATED LISTINGS ON THE WEB

www.alaskaboat.com IFQs

PERMITS

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

VESSELS

AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 33

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds

F/V CARLYNN is available to harvest halibut in areas 2c, 3a, and 3b. Black cod in areas SE, WY, and CG. Flexible rates and scheduling good references. All #1 fish and best prices at time of delivery. Please call to plan for ’09 and beyond.

Rob at (907) 321-0486 or (907) 364-3813.

Seabrooke Enterprises LLC, owners of F/V Seabrooke, are interested in LEASING CRAB QUOTA. We offer: skipper (father/ son team) with over 30 years of combined experience; vessel professionally operated/ managed, above average catch history, exceptionally well-maintained (hauled every two years), economical to operate with all Caterpillar power, current survey on request, competitive harvest rates, desire to stay actively involved in fisheries. If you are interested in LEASING CRAB QUOTA, please contact us: office (541) 938-3542, (509) 522-5252; cell (509) 520-0911, (509) 200-9508; fax (541) 938-8164; email kcampbell3542@charter.net.

37' Fiberglass Troller/combo Economical Isuzu Diesel, electronics, exceptionally tidy, streamlined and turnkey.

Email for pictures. Located in Victoria BC – short walk from the Seattle/Port Angeles ferry. $69K/obo – cfvironmaiden@shaw.ca – (250) 642-3551.

CALL THE CLAM MAN For all your clam needs. Cockles, steamers butters and horse necks. Human consumption or bait. Also commercial diving supplies.

Call Doug’s Diving, (503) 322-2200 or (800) 355-DIVE, www.dougsdiving.com.

FOR SALE CAT D375 LOCATED IN PETERSBURG. 30,000 HOURS IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE, VERY WELL MAINTAINED. REPOWERING VESSEL – MAKE OFFER. (907) 772-4625.

F/V QUIK SET – 32x13, 1987 Alucraft BBay sternpicker. 3208T Cat diesel with approx.

6000 hrs. HD hydraulics, narrow drum w/ auto levelwind. Packs 18000+ under hatches.

Exceptional maintenance of boat-equipment by same owner for 13 years. Turn key with many recent upgrades. Owner will help commission for 2010 season. Call Brad at 253-261-5340 or 253-852-5513 wk. for pictures/specifics.

Located Dillingham, AK. 105K

FOR SALE

WANTED 2C unblocked halibut quota. Will pay $24/lb. Call Roger: (907) 789-9504 or (907) 723-4642 (cell). Email: walling_roger@ hotmail.com.

FOR SALE 58' x 24' Jensen designed steel limit seiner, Dual refrigeration, Cat power, Packs over 150,00#s. 95% complete. Serious inquiries only. (714) 401-8239.

FOR SALE 2 mid-water nets; 1 alum halibut longline reel; 1 new Hansen 30" crab hauler; 250 shrimp traps 48"; 1 Carrier 5H40 and 40hp elec. motor; one 8" and one 10" Sekich herring pumps; 2 Rapp Hydema drag winches (big motors) with 1200 fathoms 19mm (3/4") new wire. (604) 576-0511.

• Mustad Autobaiter • Great sea boat w/shelter deck • Outstanding crew • Can meet or beat any rates

BOAT FOR SALE LOA 95’; Beam 25’; Gross Tons 160; Net Tons 48. Built in Bayou Labatre, AL. Year 1999; Engine CAT-3412; H.P. 671; Auxiliary CAT-3056. Price: $450,000 USD. Location: Ensenada, B.C. Mexico. Recently hauled (February) new paint ,new zincs and clean!

Contact Luis Castaneda at: 484 Bonito Ave., Imperial Beach, CA 91932 USA. Or email: luis_castava@hotmail.com.

34 PACIFICFISHING

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

Marco 26" block with power gripper and open shieve, w/o hydraulic swivel. Ten years old: $7,500 or best offer. Call: (206) 915-8345, email: 1wildfish@comcast.net.

F/V POST POINT – 32 X 13.4 1990 ALFA/NW Marine Fabrication Bristol Bay Gillnetter; 3208 Cat TD5111 Gearbox; IMS RSW Bowthruster; power steering; load sense hydraulics; powered off gearbox PTO; 200 fathom piston drive reel w/autolevelwind; flush deck and much more.

This boat is easy to maintain and fish located at Leader Creek Naknek Alaska. FOR SALE after 2010 Salmon Season. 360-223-3583.

FOR SALE 39' BHM 1987 New QSM11 350-450 H.P. (200hrs.) New 10Kw gen. (50 hrs.) Split Wheelhouse, Hyd., Puller, 2 Radars, GPS Plotter, Fishfinder, Autopilot, VHF, AM-FM-CD. Ca. Lobster permit, Socal. Nearshore permit, Gillnet permit, Salmon Permit. Boat with permits $295K boat only $225K. Lobster permit-$95K. Nearshore permit-$50K. Gillnet permit-$10K. After sale of boat only. (805) 290-5370

LET'S FISH YOUR IFQ Halibut and Black Cod. F/V Sierra Mar 58' Delta, works all seasons and all areas and walkons, leases,crewing owners and all parteners are welcome to call. This boat, operation and crew are safe, clean and reliable. Marco Auto baiter, good grub, longtime crew and all area experience and best %’s with crew share, no #2’s and bycatch for Q owner make this boat a good call. Annual upgrades and maintainance done every off season.

Please call for more information, schedualing, references and possibilities fro 2010 and beyond. Kevin Seabeck (206) 399-9267 or kjs53@aol.com.

F/V ELIZABETH S (47 ft. Delta) available to harvest c class 2c, 3a halibut and SE blackcod.

Competitive rates for hired skipper, medical transfers, or walk-ons. Small blocks welcome.

Contact Daniel Smith at (907) 209-2215.

Approx. 550 H.P., 500 fath. 5/8 wire. Starting at $19,500. Available Nov. 2010. Call: (360) 671-1354.

AUGUST 2010

FOR SALE F/V O-See-O. Length: 44', weight: 13', depth: 7', engine – new 6.7 Gimmy. All geared for power trolling. Please call 1 (907) 874-2484 or email: oseeo@aptalaska.net.

Call Pete (425) 205-0996

FOR SALE, LEASE, OR ME W/GEAR, (New!) 100, 90#, 38" airport pots, Rigged ready to splash, Many extras, 25 years on the ocean, 17 years crab, Coast guard licensed, Looking for quality boat, Or sell everything. Call for complete details.

541-226-7000

SMALL BOAT TRAWL WINCHES

FOR SALE GMC 653 engine block: rebuilt. Zero hours, $7000.00. Call: (206) 399-1699..

FOR SALE FOR SALE Three California light boats available with or without permits. One boat and permit at only $79,000. One 12 ton brail or light boat permit at only $52,000. All priced to sell. Call Don (949) 279-9369.

Maximize your IFQ return on the F/V Viking Spirit

S.S. 4 Blade Prop. Skewed Kaplan style, 5" Bore R.H., 63" Dia. x 58" Pitch. $9,000. Call: (360) 671-1354.

FOR SALE: Mustad Auto Baiting System for sale. Includes Baiter, Combe, 20 magazines of gear, and all rails and hangers. Fits on a 58 foot boat. $45,000 for all OBO. Call: (907) 253-7435 or email: rmckenzie@ctcak.net

FOR SALE Two California purse seiners available. Ready to fish. Complete boats with market squid permits and sardine permits. Priced to sell quick at $429,000. Call Don (949) 279-9369.

FISH WITH THE VIKING! F/V FISH TRAP – Bristol Bay Jet Boat. 2006 Banner Boatworks, twin 6108 Luggers, 330 hp, 13" Doen Jets, 7.5 ton RSW-IMS. Proven design, sleeps 6, open deck, set off the bow or stearn. $310,000. Drift permit available with sale – at market. Dan (907) 399-1884; (907) 235-6612.

FOR SALE Three Hamilon 321 jet pumps for sale. Each unit comes with two impellers (valued at 5K apiece new). Each unit has been totally gone thru and rebuilt. Spare impeller is new for each unit, impeller in the pumps are rebuilt.

Each unit is in “like new” condition. Asking 20K obo for each unit. Please call (360) 961-5747 or email: geoduck1@comcast.net

FOR SALE 875 Meshes X 300 F WC salmon seine from BC. Shirt line and SS rings, well maintained. $4,000.

(604) 619-6090 or email oceanventure@telus.net.

FOR SALE: 60 tubs dogfish/cod gear, 70 tubs halibut gear, 20 anchors, 14 flagpoles,chute, 12 buoys, gurdy, herring seine,10" herring pump, powerskiff-6 cyl ford with nozzle, salmon seines 5.75, 8.75. ph 604-241-0594

F/V TRADITION – 58' x 21' Tradition will fish your halibut and blackcod IFQs, April through September. Outstanding experienced crew with great catch record. We catch ‘em fast and always target the best grade. We shop for the hightest prices, traveling the distance when needed. VERY competitive rates. Call Blake (503) 440-1523 (please leave message).

FOR SALE Salmon seine, herring seine, power skiff with nozzle, 3/8 Everson halibut tub gear, buoyline, bladders, anchors, flagpoles, gurdy. 65' boat with freezer, rigged for tuna, halibut, salmon, herring, tuna gurdys and gear all discounted 75%. (604) 241-0594. http://us.mc655.mail. yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=captmike@shaw. ca"/t"_blank" or email: captmike@shaw.ca.

PACIFIC FISHING classifieds PACIFIC FISHING classifieds EXXON PLAINTIFFS (lien agents) Has distribution of your Exxon funds taken over 6 months to receive? Join a specialized class action to petition Exxon Qualified Settlement Fund to promptly process your payments. If interested, you may fax your request to (425) 671-0053, Curt Peterson, co-plaintiff. Requests will be collectively forwarded to E.Q.S.F. If plaintiffs would like monthly updated progress reports, provide an email address.

F/V LISA GAYLE is available to fish your IFQ. Flexible rates, comfortable boat. Call to schedule a convenient time to fish. (503) 791-2887 cell. (541) 568-4051. Great rates for large quotas!

LONGLINE CLIPS Wanted to buy: Wagner 5" or similar longline clips. (509) 679-0384

BOAT FOR SALE: NEW! 47.5' Seiner/Longliner/Crabber Kodiak, Alaska. $272,000. Negotiable. Gear and permits for Kodiak salmon seine, herring gillnet, tanner crab. Hamm design hull. 8000 hours John Deere engine. 800 Wesmar sonar/TracPhone.

18 ton RSW system/ packs 40,0000 lbs salmon.

808-658-0390, 808-658-5057 fiorentino.mary@ gmail.com

Harvest your A, B, or C IFQ’s on the F/V Expatriate A fully equipped and well maintained 58’ Delta.

Experienced captain and crew with a reputation for quality; best markets for your catch. Buyer references available.

Call 907-772-4856 weekdays OR mobile 602-320-9050 California light boats and purse seiners for squid and sardines with permits available now. Call Don (949) 279-9369.

FOR SALE Togiak Herring Seine and Skiff. $5500 OBO. Seine hung by Jack & Joe of Bellingham. 50% web hung in. Good shape. Skiff 16' fiberglass Olsen.

Needs outboard motor. Phone (360) 951-6058.

FOR SALE OR TRADE IFQ-QS 18,000 lbs. Halibut Class C shares Sell or trade for: Black cod, western gulf and/or 4B Halibut No Brokers please.

Fax: (907) 235-5412 Cell: (907) 299-4026

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 35

ON THE DOCKS

ADVERTISERS INDEX Alaska Boats and Permits ........................ 33 Alaska Crew Finder .................................. 31 Alaska Job Finder .................................... 31 Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute ........ 40 Alaskan Quota & Permits......................... 33 Black Pearl IFQ Fisheries .......................... 33 Cascade Engine Center ............................ 16 Coastal Marine Engine, Inc. ..................... 33 Copper River Boat & Permits, LLC ............ 35 Dana F. Besecker Co ..............................2, 29 Diesel America West ................................ 28 Dock Street Brokers ................................. 31 FORS ....................................................... 28 Foss Shipyard .......................................... 28 Fremont Maritime Services, Inc. .............. 18 Gibbons & Associates, P.S. ....................... 29 Hans Johnson .......................................... 35 Highland Refrigeration............................ 19 Hockema & Whalen Associates ................ 29 Inmarsat North America .......................... 20 Jackson, Morgan & Hunt ......................... 29 Kinematics Marine, Inc. ........................... 12 Kodiak Boatyard ...................................... 15 KVH Industries ........................................ 11 Law Office of Paul L. Anderson, PLLC ....... 29 LFS, Inc.................................................... 14 Lynden Transport .................................... 39 MER Equipment ...................................... 28 Mikkelborg Law Offices ........................... 29 Norm Pillen ............................................. 31 Northport Fisheries ................................. 28 NPFVOA ................................................... 35 NW Farm Credit Services ......................... 32 Ocean Traps ............................................. 28 Osborne Propellers Ltd. ........................... 29 Pacific West Refrigeration.......................... 6 PF’s “What’s New”.................................... 27 Rena International .................................... 8 Rigby Marine........................................... 29 Ryco Equipment ...................................... 17 Seabrooke Enterprises LLC ....................... 34 Silver Horde Fishing Supplies .................. 28 Spurs Line & Net Cutter Systems ............... 9 The Permit Master ................................... 30 Tom-Mac Shipyards ................................... 7 Vancouver Shipyards ............................... 29 Viking Spirit ............................................ 34 Warren L. Junes Ltd. ................................ 28 WESMAR- Western Marine Electronics ...... 5 Wrangell Boatshop ................................. 28 Wrangell Ports and Harbors .................... 10 36 PACIFICFISHING

AUGUST 2010

One of the requirements is that It’s Alaska’s fault: Open-pen salmon aquaculture isn’t the problem on recipients be commercial fishermen or a descendant of one. Most are kids or B.C.’s coast. grandkids, and there are some wives It’s Alaska.

A well-financed campaign by trying to find other avenues to help supAlaska’s wild salmon industry is out to port their husbands.

In addition, Women for Fisherdiscredit and eliminate the competition from the B.C. salmon farming industry. ies invested $38,500 of the grant in an At least that’s the conclusion inde- endowment fund that the group has pendent researcher Vivian Krause has been trying to grow for a few years. It is come up with, according to a story in now $106,000.

Organizers hope that someday they Canada’s National Post.

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute has received funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trust — all to attack salmon aquaculture in B.C. Krause says in her blog — “Fish Farm fuss” — that the same United States–based foundations have supplied $128 million in funding to groups battling open-pen salmon aquaculture in British Columbia.

The National Post was Kale Garcia of the F/V Aquila helps load a container destined started by publishing tycoon for devastation you’ve probably not heard of. The North Pacific Conrad Black in 1998 as a fishing industry contributed about $85,000 in gear for fishermen conservative media outlet on Robinson Crusoe Island, a speck of land 400 miles off Chile’s promoting unfettered busi- coast, which was demolished by a tsunami in February. The island, originally called Juan Fernandez Island, inspired Daniel ness develoment in Canada.

Defoe to create the tale of Robinson Crusoe in the 18th century.

Black was serving 78 The 21st century relief effort was the work of crabbers, trawlers, months in U.S. federal longliners, fishing associations, gear suppliers, and prison for diverting funds maritime businesses. for personal benefit from sales of publishing assets and other will use the interest from this fund to continue scholarships for future generations. irregularities.

This year the recipients are:

Rebecca Reisbick, daughter of Farmed fish toxic: A French television program — Risks on a Plate — fisherman Sanford Reisbick of the troller recently concluded that most salmon on High Hope from Olympia, Wash.

Sandy French, wife of John French, a the French market do not meet toxicity longtime fisherman from Morro Bay. safety standards.

Josh Dagama, whose grandfather The program said fish meat becomes Anthony and father Eric are commercial potentially toxic because of the pestifishermen from Morro Bay area. cides used to combat sea lice.

Angelina McKee, daughter of Jeff

California scholarships: Central McKee, a Port San Luis fisherman.

Remy Noll, granddaughter of Beverly Coast Women for Fisheries (www. womenforfish.org) has announced recipi- Noll from Crescent City.

Nick and Breana Hansen, whose ents of its 2010 scholarship program.

This year, the group received a grant grandfather Jack Hansen is a retired for $60,000 from the Central California fisherman from Morro Bay. Ryan French, son of John French, Joint Cable/Fisheries Liaison Committee. Some $20,000 of it was dispersed to Morro Bay. Ashlyn Snow, whose father Don Snow 20 students.

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

has a troller that fishes Southeast Alaska Brian and Julian Capen, sons of Tom Capen, a Port San Luis fisherman.

Jonathon Blue, son of long time Morro Bay fisherman Bill Blue.

Adam Peterman, son of Port San Luis fisherman Bruce Peterman.

Amy Dean, niece of fisherman Fred Cefalu from Morro Bay. Joseph Jenson, grandson of John Roza Sr. from Morro Bay area.

Barbara Stickel. She and her husband Tom Stickel from Morro Bay have fished for many years.

Drew and Lorrin French, sons of long time Morro Bay fisherman Jeff French. Their mother, Lori, runs the Faces of California Fishing program, which is becoming Postcard: Evan Seager took this photo of a sunset on Yakobi Island in 2006. well known.

Matt Buompensiero, son of Morro Bay fisherman Pete Buompensiero.

Eryn Pellegrini, whose father Paul Pellegrini from Eureka is a status for the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Profourth generation fisherman. gram (SHARP).

SHARP is a federal recognition program administered Give her a hand: Alexandra Morton, who has led the fight by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Develagainst open salmon net pens in British Columbia, has gone opment’s Standards and Safety Division. Organizations without a paycheck for quite some time. So, she’s opened an that achieve SHARP status are likely to experience fewer online store with her books, cards, fish prints, and more: www. workplace accidents and reduced workers’ compensation alexandramorton.ca. insurance costs. continued on page 38 Help her out.

Alaska fishermen help gulf industry: The Alaska Fishing Industry Relief Mission (AFIRM) has sent a $10,600 donation to Louisiana to help the Gulf Coast fishing industry. The money will underwrite an industry effort to create a citizen advisory committee to help oversee the Gulf of Mexico oil industry.

If adopted by Congress, the Louisiana committee would be similar to those which already operate in Alaska’s Prince WilSome retailers can’t always meet liam Sound and Cook Inlet, where Regional Citizens’ Advisory Committees (RCACs) were established after the Exxon Valdez the demand for Pacific Fishing. oil spill. Those committees monitor terminal and tanker operations, conduct research, and provide advice to ensure industry operations are in accordance with environmentally sound practices.

“We believe the RCAC systems in Alaska have been instrumental in keeping marine oil operations as safe as possible,” said Mark Vinsel, executive director of the United Fishermen of Alaska.

Kvichak sending skimmers to gulf: Kvichak Marine Industries of Seattle was building about 30 rapid response oil skimmers, fitted with Marco Pollution Control CL-1 Filterbelt oil recovery modules, for companies responding to the gulf spill.

So, if you can’t find Pacific Fishing in your The 30-foot rapid-response, shallow-water vessel is ideally regular store, let us know. suited for use on oil spills in waterways, bays, and harbors. The all-aluminum skimmer has an 8-foot beam and a draft of 2.5 feet We’ll get a copy to you as soon as poss ible. and is easily trailerable. Powered by twin 70 hp outboards, the skimmer is capable of a response speed of more than 17 knots.

Call: 425-282-0990, Ext. 222

E-mail: GimmePacificFishing@gmail.c Pacific Seafood honored for safety: Island Seafoods of om Kodiak, a subsidiary of Pacific Seafood, has earned approved

Missed us?

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

AUGUST 2010

PACIFICFISHING 37

ON THE DOCKS

continued from page 37

New members on regional councils: The Commerce Department has announced the appointment of 19 new and returning members to the eight regional fishery management councils.

The councils, established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, prepare fishery management plans for marine fish stocks in their regions.

Council members represent diverse constituents including commercial and recreational fisheries, environmental interests, and academia. Each year, the secretary of commerce selects approximately one-third of the total of 72 appointed members to the eight regional councils. Nineteen are being named or reappointed for the next term, which begins on Aug. 11.

PACIFIC COUNCIL: The Pacific Council includes members from the states of California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

The appointees for 2010 fill an obligatory seat for Idaho and one at-large seat.

Obligatory seat Herbert “Herb” A. Pollard II (Idaho) At-large seat Danny “Dan” L. Wolford (California) NORTH PACIFIC COUNCIL: The North Pacific Council includes members from the states of Alaska and Washington. The appointees for 2010 fill two obligatory seats for Alaska.

Obligatory seats: Duncan S. Fields (Alaska) Samuel “Sam” R. Cotton (Alaska)

Postcard: Aimee Castle shot this photo of Brian Castle pulling a gillnet in Clarence Strait in the summer of 2009.

Want to reach Àshermen?

Pacific Fishing has the attention of the North Pacific fleet.

Share it with us this fall. Enjoy the visibility and the savings!

OCTOBER: Power: What 2012 will bring in auxiliaries, reduction gear, and mains

NOVEMBER: Fish Expo: Your customers are in the buying mood when they read this issue

Advertise in October or December and receive your November ad for half price!

The space reservation deadline for October is 8/16.

Ads are due on 8/19.

DECEMBER: Logistics: Packing/transport of product and supplies in the North Pacific

Your ads are noticed because the industry reads every page!

THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE FOR FISHERMEN

38 PACIFICFISHING

AUGUST 2010

WWW.PACIFICFISHING.COM

Call (206) 962-9315 to reserve your space today!

The first wholesale value of Alaska salmon reached $1,069,400,000, and the price paid to fishermen reached a 13-year high, boosting state and local economies and the private sector.

Photo: © Steve Lee

Photo: © Steve Lee

Alaska Salmon Value Growth: Ex-Vessel and First Wholesale

Alaska Ex-Vessel Value, Key Commercial Species $1,200 $1,000

$1,600 $1,200 $800

2007-2008 Increase 14.4%

$400 $0 2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Source: ADF&G, NMFS, SMIS estimates Combined value of salmon, pollock, P-cod, sablefish & halibut, shellfish, other groundfish

V alu e ($ m illio n s)

V alu e ($ m illio n s)

$2,000

$800 $600 $400 $200 $0 2002

2003

Ex-Vessel

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

First Wholesale Value, selected products

Source: ADF&G, AK Dept. of Revenue Selected products: fresh and frozen H&G, fresh and frozen fillet, salmon roe, canned salmon

30th

Check out the industry e-newsletter Newsbrief on the Seafood Industry portion of the ASMI website, www.alaskaseafood.org. Subscribe to Newsbrief and Seafood Market Information Service. Check out Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute on Facebook, where you’ll find a link to a new 60-second video on You Tube about Alaska bears, whales and fishermen.

niversary n A

1980-2010